Carotid body tumor contemporary management in a high-volume center

• DOI: 10.23736/s0021-9509.19.10496-x
• Publication Date: 2020-07-27T09:27:53Z
• Authors: Daniele Mascia; Gloria Esposito; Angela Ferrante; Alessandro Grandi; Germano Melissano; Roberto Chiesa
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Operative Time; Contrast Media; Carotid Body Tumor; Conservative Treatment; Paraganglioma; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Risk Factors; Humans; Aged; Retrospective Studies; Aged, 80 and over; Surgical procedures, operative; Radiotherapy; Angiography; Middle Aged; Embolization, Therapeutic; Iopamidol; 3. Good health; Survival Rate; Female; Carotid body tumor; Cranial nerve injuries; Vascular Surgical Procedures

The aim of this study is to report our results with carotid body tumor (CBT) surgical management.Between 2010 and 2018, 100 CBTs (mean age: 48.0 years, range 21-80 years old) were treated in our center. The patients were classified in 3 groups according to the size: group I (<3 cm), group II (3 to 5 cm) and group III (>5 cm).Surgical resection was performed in 88 patients and conservative treatment in 2 cases. Nine patients were treated for bilateral involvement and one of them was also treated again for a relapse. Postoperatively, cranial nerve injury (CNI) was significantly higher in group II [3 (8.3%) vs. 16 (31.4%) vs. 2 (15.4%); P=0.030] with no statistical differences between the CN involved. At univariate analysis for CNI, CBT group (P=0.030), maximum diameter (P=0.046), patients presenting with dysphonia (P=0.035) and dysphagia (P=0.007) and patients suffering from any intraoperative complication (P=0.047) were statistically significant. At multivariate analysis the only significant variable was CBT group II (P=0.016). For blood loss, CBT group III (P<0.001), Shamblin class III (P<0.001), Pulmonary disease (P=0.034) and surgery time (P<0.001) were statistically significant. The follow-up of 79 patients (87.8%) showed a 100% overall survival at median follow-up of 37.7 months (range 2-84.7 months) with freedom from local recurrence of 97.8% (77/79).Surgical resection remains the gold standard to obtain complete recovery, although tumor size is to be considered a risk factor for CNI because large CBTs remain at high risk for CNIs.