Da Nang: Successful surgery on extremely rare carotid body tumor

DNVN – On the afternoon of October 25, Da Nang Hospital announced that doctors from the hospital's Thoracic Surgery Department had successfully performed surgery on an extremely rare case of right carotid artery tumor with an incidence rate of 1-2 patients per 100,000 people.

Previously, patient Doan XL (born in 1968, residing in Son Tra district, Da Nang city) came to Da Nang hospital for examination with a painful tumor in the right neck area, the tumor pulsated with the heartbeat. The doctor ordered an ultrasound, CT scan with contrast in the neck veins and paraclinical tests.

Doctors of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Da Nang Hospital checked the CT scan results of the carotid tumor of patient Doan XL before surgery.

The results showed a mass in the right neck measuring 33x37x64mm, clearly defined, surrounding the right carotid artery, with central blood vessels, and strong vascular proliferation after contrast injection. The patient was diagnosed with a right carotid artery tumor with complications of compression of the right carotid artery, and was admitted to the Department of Thoracic Surgery for surgical treatment to remove the tumor.

Dr. Than Trong Vu - Head of Thoracic Surgery Department, Da Nang Hospital, who directly performed the surgery, said that the surgery was very difficult because the large tumor had many blood vessels that surrounded the internal and external carotid arteries and the bifurcation of the carotid artery.

Large tumors that spread above the skull base and down cause compression of the common carotid artery, so the risk of bleeding during and after surgery is very high. At the same time, there is a possibility of brain damage during the process of clamping the carotid artery to treat carotid artery injuries during dissection.

However, with extensive experience, after 4 hours of surgery, doctors from the Department of Anesthesia and Resuscitation and the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Da Nang Hospital successfully removed the entire tumor without any complications.

The post-operative pathology results were paraganglioma of the head and neck consistent with the diagnosis of carotid body tumor. After surgery, the patient's health was stable and he could eat, drink, and talk normally and was discharged from the hospital.

Dr. Than Trong Vu said that carotid body tumors are a rare type of tumor with an incidence of 1-2 patients/100,000 people, accounting for 0.6/100 neck tumors. The nature of the tumor is usually benign, however, about 5-7% of tumors have the potential to be malignant. The tumor originates from the bifurcation of the common carotid artery into the internal carotid artery and the external carotid artery.

Around the tumor, there are many important cranial nerves such as the glossopharyngeal nerve, hypoglossal nerve, and vagus nerve. Surgery is the only radical treatment method but it is very difficult, many neurological and vascular complications can occur. In the Department of Thoracic Surgery, this tumor has not been encountered in the past 10 years.

“If the patient feels an unusually large neck area or a lump protruding, they should go to a specialized medical facility for timely treatment to avoid the case of a large tumor making surgery difficult and leading to many complications,” Dr. Vu advised.

Hai Chau

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/tin-tuc/da-nang-phau-thuat-thanh-cong-khoi-u-than-canh-cuc-ky-hiem-gap/20241025053316671