The use of internal carotid artery stenting in management of bilateral carotid body tumors

Excerpt

Carotid body tumors (CBT) are paragangliomas that arise from chemoreceptors at the carotid bifurcation with surgical removal indicated in the majority of cases[1, 2]. Surgical resection remains complicated by bleeding from the tumor, possible internal carotid artery (ICA) injury, cranial nerve injuries and cerebral ischemic events. In Shamblin type III tumors, the likelihood of vascular injury increases [1]. Therefore facilities for vascular repair, reconstruction, on table balloon occlusion and rapid transfer to the neuroradiology suite should be available for all CBT. ICA stenting is a good option to reduce intraoperative injury and we have utilized this technique for complex tympanojugular paragangliomas without postoperative complications [3‐5]. We report a case of large bilateral carotid body tumors where bilateral uncomplicated surgical removal was performed in a staged fashion with the use of uncovered ICA stents. …