Incidentally detected Carotid Body Tumour : Case Report

Female, 60 years old, with headache and recurrent left tinnitus. Has been to several ENT clinics. Stayed unexplained for 5 Yrs.  MRI brain incidentally detected the finding described below.Case submitted by Dr. A. Altamimi, MD, DMRD, FRCR, Consultant RadiologistMRI Brain revealed : special note is the presence of an incidentaloma in the form of a lobulated oval mass (about 2.5 x 3 x 4.5 cm) embedded in the left upper neck at the level of the carotid bifurcation (splaying the ICA and ECA carotid arteries) with some localized mass effect. It is generally iso-to-hypointense to muscle on T1, moderately hyperintense on T2 and FLAIR and becomes even brighter in STIR images and shows a more or less typical salt-and-pepper appearance representing flow voids (pepper) combined with punctate hyperintensities due to slow flow&/or hemorrhage (salt) in keeping with carotid body tumor (aka chemodectoma or carotid body paraganglioma). Brain MRI was otherwise normal.OverviewParagangliomas (PGLs) are uncommon tumors, incidence rate is 1 to 2 per 100,000, and the tumors are often given special designations, depending on their locations. Only 3% of all PGLs occur in head and neck, majority located in carotid body (carotid body tumors), temporal-bone/middle-ear (glomus jugulare) and vagus nerve in neck (vagal PGLs). 90% of head and neck PGLs are sporadic, while only 10% are hereditary in nature.In literature, case...
Source: Sumer's Radiology Site - Category: Radiology Authors: Source Type: blogs