Case report: The coexisting of a bilateral carotid body tumor, a thyroid gland adenoma, and a thymoma - Coincidental diagnosis?

Bilateral carotid body tumors are quite rare neoplasms. The coexistence of bilateral carotid body tumor, thyroid gland adenoma and thymoma has not yet been reported in the literature. We report on a 59-year old male who prese nted with a bilateral cervical mass. After the standard diagnostic procedur es and surgical removal the diagnosis of a carotid body tumor was confirmed . On physical examination, the carotid body tumor is usually palpable as a firm, painless cervical mass. Even though carotid body tumors are slow-grow ing, and from a histological point of view benign, they sometimes attain ma ssive size and therefore compress the surrounding tissue and create clinica l pressure symptoms. A heredo-familial tendency of these tumors has been no ted. A common neuroectodermal origin is proposed as an explanation for the coexistence of the carotid body tumor and multiple endocrine tumors.