Carotid body tumor associated with partial Horner's syndrome and facial pain ('Raeder's syndrome').

Abstract

A 35-year-old woman had partial, right-sided Horner's syndrome seven years prior to admission. Facial sweating was normal. Ipsilateral headache and facial pain followed a year later. Three months before admission a left-sided carotid body tumor was resected successfully. Soon thereafter, a mass was noted below the right mandibular angle and carotid angiography showed features typical of a carotid body tumor at the carotid bifurcation. To our knowledge this is the first report of such a lesion causing Raeder's syndrome. Review of other reported cases of this usually benign syndrome shows that some may be associated with serious but treatable diseases of the internal carotid artery.