Abstract
We report a case of bilateral carotid tumor treated by a two-step operation. The patient was a 30-year-old man with a painless swelling in his left neck.
He had received contrast enhanced CT and MRI, and a diagnosis of bilateral carotid body tumor, at another ENT clinic, and was referred to our hospital for operation. We judged that operation was possible because we made a definite diagnosis from carotid angiography and made sure that the balloon Matas test was negative.
First, we resected the left tumor which was suspected of Shamblin's group I. The common and internal carotid arteries on the left side were preserved. Five months later, we operated on the right tumor. The tumor was adhered to the jugular vein, carotid artery and the surrounding structures. The carotid bifurcation was involved with the tumor. The tumor was resected with carotid reconstruction using the great saphenous vein (Shamblin's group III). Preoperative angiography and embolization were performed by neurosurgery, and carotid reconstruction was done by vascular surgery. We recognized the importance of a multidisciplinary approach involving the fields of otolaryngology, neurosurgery and vascular surgery. The two-step operation and multidisciplinary approach made safe, curative treatment possible.
