Management of bilateral carotid body tumors and a glomus jugulare tumor in a child.

This paper reports on a 14-year-old female child with bilateral carotid tumors and a glomus jugulare tumor, a rare combination of tumors in any patient and previously unreported in a child. The literature is reviewed and the details of the history, physical findings, results of laboratory tests, and the surgical management of the patient are discussed. The need for an exhaustive preoperative evaluation is stressed so that the proper surgery can be planned. The difficulties of surgical management, the complications, morbidity and potential hazards of surgery in these vascular tumors are presented. The unusual complications that a patient in the pediatric age group encountered as compared to those seen in adults are discussed.