Covered Carotid Stents

Abstract

To the Editor: We read with interest the article by McDougall et al.1 We think that 2 issues are important. First, the feeding arteries of the carotid body tumors arose from different locations. Paragangliomas not only receive their blood supply from the carotid arteries but also can be vascularized by the vertebral arteries, deep cervical artery, and thyrocervical trunk.2 Stenting internal carotid artery is not guaranteed devascularization of tumor. Second, safe resection of these tumors is maintained by cleavage of the tumor mass from the carotid arteries. Vessel-rich tumoral tissue tightly surrounds the carotid arteries, especially in Shamblin stage III. The internal carotid artery must be partially compressed to separate from the stretched vessel network of the carotid body tumor where it is surrounded. The internal carotid artery including a stent may unsuitable for surgical manipulation such as compression and pulling. Disclosure The authors have no personal financial or institutional interest in any of the drugs, materials, or devices described in this article.