Glomus tissue in the vicinity of the human carotid sinus

Three of 60 cadavers have shown, in the adventitia or in the adipose tissue from the human carotid sinus region, small islands of tissue richly and typically vascularized and with nerve endings contacting cells like the tissue of the principal carotid body. In two of the cases such 'miniglomera' were single but in the third there were several all on the same side. A modified en bloc silver nitrate reduction stain was used to demonstrate the microvascular arrangements and the nerve endings by light microscopy of serial tangential sections of the carotid bifurcation.