Zafar Mahmood, Saba Abbasi, Umar Farooq, Riq Rafi S M Tariq, Sameer Qureshi.
Carotid body tumor experience at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical centre.
Med Channel Jan ;17(2):21-3.

Introduction Paragangliomas arising from the carotid bodies are generally rare tumors but comprise the majority of Head and Neck Paragangliomas (60-70%). They arise from the medial side of the carotid body and needs very meticulous dissection. Objective : The aim of this study is to share the experience of meticulous dissection of carotid body tumor and show the discrepancy of sex, age and living area of patients between international data and our experience. Study Design : Retrospective study Materia; and Method : This study was conducted in ENT and Head and Neck Surgery department, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi from 2000 to 2008. During this duration total 08 patients were admitted having carotid body tumor. 05 were female and three were male. Mean age was 42 years (youngest patient was 23 years old). 05 patients were from Karachi and 02 patients were referred from Punjab and 01 patient from Balochistan. One patient with huge tumor refused any kind of treatment and he was 25 years old young male. Results : Internal Carotid artery was damaged in two cases which were repaired with proline by a vascular surgeon. There is no cerebral damage post operatively. Average blood loss was 300 ml. Conclusion: Carotid body tumors are slow growing and benign. The keys to successful surgery are careful preoperative planning, proximal and distal control of the vasculature with vessel loops, careful identification and preservation of neural structures if possible, dissection in the sub adventitial, white line and preparation for vascular reconstruction if necessary with suture repair, patch grafting or interposition saphenous vein graft.

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