Abstract

Carotid body tumors (CBT) are very rare tumors and CBT masquerading as a submandibular lymph node are even rarer. The authors report a case of a middle aged male who was referred to the Otolaryngology department for investigation of a suspected/ apparent left submandibular lymph node. It was slow growing in nature, painless and firm to the touch but was otherwise asymptomatic. Given this presentation and his history of smoking two (2) packs of cigarettes a day for fifty-three (53) years a malignancy of the head and neck area was suspected. A Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) was done at his first visit and this was negative for malignancy. A Computed Tomography (CT) scan of the neck revealed a mass within the carotid sheath with the characteristic Lyre sign: the splaying of the internal and external carotid arteries typical of a paraganglioma or chemodectoma. Based on the recommendations of Shamblin, this case was classified as a Shamblin I, i.e. a perfect candidate for surgical resection. After adequate preparation, informed consent and further imaging, the tumor was resected an uneventful recovery was to be in keeping with the dictum of the Shamblin classification. The histology was reported as a Paraganglioma with no atypical features. We think this is the first reported case of CBT from the Caribbean countries.

Authors and Affiliations