Chemodectoma (Carotid-Body Tumor) Metastasizing to Bone

Abstract

A case of carotid-body tumor with two isolated metastases to the left ilium is presented. The first metastatic lytic lesion to the left ilium appeared thirty-five years after the mass was first noted and thirteen years after excision of the primary tumor. Two biopsies—done four years apart—revealed metastatic carotid-body tumor. X-ray and cobalt irradiation followed each biopsy with no demonstrable effect on the size or structure of the tumor. At the time of writing, the patient is still alive with minimum discomfort in the left hip, despite a pathological fracture of the acetabulum and increase in the size of the iliac lesions.