LAUSR

Carotid body tumors (CBTs) are the most common paragangliomas, with an incidence of one in every 30,000 people in the general population. They usually affect middle-aged patients with chronic hypoxia and present as a cervical mass with lower cranial nerve palsies. CBTs are rarely malignant, usually asymptomatic, and have generally been associated with substantive procedural complications, especially blood loss. Surgical resection is recommended for all CBTs in healthy patients due to the risk of local complications related to tumor size and a small but definite risk of malignancy. Despite progress in CBT imaging and surgical techniques, cranial nerve deficit, stroke, and death continue to affect 10--40% of patients undergoing curative surgical resection. While most CBT complications occur during or postsurgery, CBTs should be considered among the uncommon