Background: Carotid body tumors are uncommon neoplasms with unique epidemiology and management demands. Cervical embryology is complex. Developmental abnormalities can result in ectopic displacement of native tissues.
Methods: We present the case of a 21-year-old female with bilateral carotid body paragangliomas who presented to our clinic seeking excision of the symptomatic right-sided tumor.
Results: The patient was successfully treated with surgical excision. Two rare anatomic variants were identified in her surgical specimen: a carotid sheath parathyroid gland and ectopic thymus tissue.
Conclusions: This patient represents an unreported combination of pathologic and anatomic phenomena. The paraganglioma resulted from a familial genetic mutation that is well studied in this patient's ethnic population (Dutch), and the literature on this topic is reviewed herein. The 2 anatomic variants likely represent a single, embryologic glitch that will carry no physiologic sequelae. The clinical application of this ectopic anatomy and the common embryologic origins are discussed.
Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.