A 45-year old female referred for a large carotid body tumor resection. The tumor was encasing the internal (ICA) and external carotid arteries (ECA). She underwent angiogram and embolization of the ascending pharyngeal artery and a distal branch of the ECA using ethylene vinyl-alcohol copolymer (EVOH). Two days later, surgical resection of the tumor with regional lymph node dissection was perf...

Respiratory motoneuron response to hypoxia is reflex in nature and carotid body sensory receptor constitutes the afferent limb of this reflex. Recent studies showed that repetitive exposures to hypoxia evokes long term facilitation of sensory nerve discharge (sLTF) of the carotid body in rodents exposed to chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). Although studies with anti-oxidants suggested the inv...

BACKGROUND Head and neck paragangliomas are tumors associated with the parasympathetic nerve system and typically show an indolent growth pattern. Therefore a conservative management strategy is considered in selected cases. METHODS AND RESULTS We present a case of a female patient who presented in 2003 with bilateral carotid body tumors and a tympanic tumor, associated with a mutation in the...

To determine if doxapram stimulates the carotid body through the same mechanism as hypoxia, we compared the effects of doxapram and hypoxia on isolated-perfused carotid bodies in rabbits. Doxapram stimulated the carotid body in a dose-dependent manner. In Ca(2+)-free solution, neither doxapram nor hypoxia stimulated the carotid body. Although, doxapram had an additive effect on the carotid body...

Carotid splaying, also known as the Lyre sign, is a widening of the carotid bifurcation due to the displacement of the internal carotid artery and the external carotid artery just distal to the point of divergence. This phenomenon is classically exhibited by highly vascularized carotid body tumors and, in rare cases, by cervical sympathetic chain schwannomas. Demonstration of the Lyre sign by a...

The aim of the present paper is to briefly review the changes occurring in the nucleus tractus solitarii and carotid body in response to hypoxic and hyperoxic injuries. Selective alterations of dendrites and Fos-immunoreactivity of neurons have been observed in the subnucleus gelatinosus of the nucleus tractus solitarii of adult subjects dying after hypoxic-ischaemic injury. The selective vulne...

Role of the Carotid Body in Obesity-Related Sympathoactivation To the Editor: Paton et al1 reviewed the experimental and clinical data reporting that stimulation of the carotid body drives sympathetic tone, and that increased chemosensitivity may be one of the factors underlying autonomic imbalance in hypertension, heart failure, insulin resistance, sleep disorders, and chronic kidney disorders...

An increase in intracellular Ca²(+) is crucial to O₂ sensing by the carotid body. Polyamines have been reported to modulate both the extracellular Ca²(+)-sensing receptor (CaR) and voltage-gated Ca²(+) channels in a number of cell types. Using RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, the predominant voltage-gated Ca²(+) channels expressed in the adult rat carotid body were L (Ca(V)1.2) and N (Ca(V)2.2)...

Current concepts on the location and functional significance of nicotinic receptors in the carotid body rest on alpha-bungarotoxin binding and autoradiographic studies. Using an in vitro preparation of the cat carotid body whose catecholamine deposits have been labeled by prior incubation with the tritiated natural precursor [3H]tyrosine, we have found that nicotine induces release of [3H]catec...

The distribution and ultrastructural characteristics of calbindin D-28k immunoreactive nerve fibers were examined in the carotid body of the normoxic control rats by light and electron microscopy, and the abundance of calbindin D-28k fibers in the carotid body was compared in normoxic and chronically hypoxic rats (10% O2 and 3.0-4.0% CO2 for 3 months). Calbindin D-28k immunoreactivity was recog...