The carotid bodies in cyanotic heart disease

The morphological findings of the carotid bodies of two cases with cyanotic heart disease are presented. The first case, a 14-year-old girl with atrial and ventricular septal defect accompanied with atresia of the tricuspidal valve showed a life-long history of pulmonary hypertension and hypoxaemia. The carotid bodies were not enlarged, but the diameters of the glomic lobules were increased and its margins were sometimes blurred. There was a marked increase of glomic tissue within the carotid bodies. The ratio of chief to sustentacular cells remained unchanged. The second case, a 59-year-old man with a double inlet left ventricle, had a history of pulmonary hypertension and hypoxaemia of more than 23 years. The carotid bodies as well as the diameters of the glomic lobules were much more enlarged than in case one. There was an increase of glomic tissue within the carotid bodies, too. The histological examination showed a marked increase of sustentacular and Schwann cells. These results show that the findings of carotid bodies in cyanotic heart diseases may be different depending on the duration of hypoxaemia.