To the Editor.—
The neurologic features of a large group of patients with glomus tumors of the head and neck were recently well delineated by G.J. Spector et al (Arch Neurol 33:270, 1976). In their series of 75 patients, 57 tumors arose from the jugular bulb, 11 from the middle ear, and 7 from the vagus nerve. However, similar tumors of the carotid body (glomus caroticum) were not included in their presentation.In contrast to the glomus tumors (chemodectomas) of their group with a high incidence of neurologic manifestations, chemodectomas of the carotid bifurcation are usually not very symptomatic. The majority of carotid chemodectomas are benign and slow growing, with minimal associated symptoms; most patients with chemodectomas of the carotid bifurcation are asymptomatic except for the presence of a painless cervical mass.1 The angiographic features of chemodectomas of the carotid bifurcation are well established and diagnostic for the average