[Surgical treatment of carotid paragangliomas]

The present article reviews the current panorama of the surgical treatment of carotid paragangliomas. The article begins by discussing surgical indications and preoperative aspects (Shamblins classification, the value of genetic study, informed consent, the utility of embolization, etc). Intraoperative aspects (surgical team) and features of the surgical technique (the patients position, incision and exposition, vessel control and identification of nerves, subadventitial or periadventitial tumoral excision, the need for arterial resection and reconstruction, etc.) are discussed in depth. Postoperative aspects, morbidity (neurological and vascular) and mortality, as well as how to follow-up these patients, are discussed at the end of the first part of the article. The second part analyzes special situations concerning carotid paraganglioma (unresectable, malignant, residual [persistent] or recurrent, bilateral and multiple tumors, associated diseases, tumors in children, etc.). The final part of the article, in the form of an appendix, shows the characteristics and results of our series (30 carotid paragangliomas in 26 patients between 1994 and 2008).