Precise knowledge of the structure of the carotid body dates back to the contribution of von Luschka1 in 1862. Since the communications of Marchand,2 von Paltauf,3 Mönckeberg4 and others dealing with cases of tumor of the carotid body, numerous contributions to the anatomy, embryology, physiology and pathology of the carotid body have been made.
The literature dealing with tumor of the carotid body has been thoroughly reviewed by Keen and Funke5 (1906), Callison and Mackenty6 (1913), Bevan and McCarthy7 (1929), Rankin and Wellbrock8 (1931), Peterson and Meeker9 (1936), Sonck10 (1938), Gratiot11 (1943) and others. From these collective reviews it appears that to date there have been approximately 300 cases of tumor of the carotid body, an indication that tumors of this type must be regarded as rare.
Even less frequent, however, are the reports of cases of aberrant carotid body tumor. Rössing12 reported a case in which at postmortem examination