Patients of the familial carotid body tumor

Abstract

Carotid body tumor is a rare disease but there are some reports about familial onset of this tumor. We experienced the cases of a father and his daughter who had a carotid body tumor. The father also had a parapharyngeal tumor that was revealed to be a paraganglioma by histopathological examination, suggesting that he had two paragangliomas at the same time, i.e., carotid body tumor plus vagal paraganglioma. The tumor of the daughter was diagnosed malignant because it was associated with lymph node metastases. Carotid arteriography demonstrated highly vascular lesion indicating that these tumors were rich in blood supply with tremendous vessels surrounding them. Surgical removal was done. Postoperatively the father had paralysis of cranial nerves IX, X, and XII, while the daughter had paralysis of the vocal cord.