A family exhibiting carotid body tumours

The authors describe the surgery carried out for 11 carotid body tumours (CBTs) that were found in three generations of a Greek family. Eight patients with CBTs were operated upon at St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto, within 1 year. Three patients had bilateral CBTs, which were removed in two stages. Only one of the CBTs occurred in a female. Seven CBTs were excised by meticulous subadventitial dissection. In the eighth, a previous attempt at removal in another hospital had proved unsuccessful, and excision of the tumour required ligation of the external carotid artery and partial excision of the carotid bulb. The authors conclude that most CBTs can be excised directly without ligation, shunts or bypasses. In eight operations carried out on five patients, the only complication was a transient neuropraxia of the hypoglossal nerve that resolved within 2 weeks.