A two years prospective follow up and outcome of patients operated for carotid body tumors: experience from Ethiopia.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to describe the patterns of patient presentation, management and prospective two-year follow up at the Tikur Anbessa Hospital.


BACKGROUND
Carotid body tumors (CBTs) constitute about 80% of paragangliomas and they occur frequently in Ethiopia.


METHODS
This is a two years prospective study, involving all patients operated from September 2007-August 2009 (over a two year period) at the Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for CBTs. Routine patient characteristics along with details of presentation, diagnostic tools employed, preoperative and post operative management, intra-operative staging and postoperative complications were recorded. All patients were followed post operatively for an average of 13 months. Data was prospectively collected and analysis done.


RESULTS
A total of 19 patients were admitted and operated. All patients presented with a painless slowly growing neck mass. The tumor was situated in the left side in 12 (63.2%) and was bilateral in only 1 (5.2%). The preoperative diagnosis was suspected by clinical examination in all patients and confirmation done with fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in 18 (94.7%) and doppler ultrasound in 12 (57.9). No patient required vascular bypass or deliberate resection and reconstruction of the carotid artery during surgery. Staging of the tumor showed 5 (26.3%) were Shamblin I, 10 (52.6%) were Shamblin II and 4 (21.1%) were Shamblin III. Five (26.3%) of the patients had evidence of temporary nerve injury. Malignancy was not diagnosed in any of the patient. Nine (47.4%) of the procedures were complicated by bleeding in excess of 500 ml and mortality was 0%.


CONCLUSIONS
The experience in carotid body tumor excision at our center is encouraging and our surgical management of carotid body tumors had good long term outcome and low complication rates.
Department of Surgery, Addis Ababa University, Medical faculty, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Abebe
A
Bekele
Azarias
A
Kassahun
Seyoum
S
Kassa
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002345:Carotid Body Tumor / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult