Presentation
Palpable painless mass at the left upper neck.
Patient Data
Well-circumscribed left cervical mass in the carotid space isodense to muscles on non-enhanced CT with vivid enhancement on arterial phase, splaying the internal and external carotid arteries "lyre sign" with mild extension towards the carotid canal.
Case Discussion
CT features most consistent with a carotid body tumor (also called a chemodectoma or carotid body paraganglioma). It is a highly vascular paraganglioma arising from the paraganglion cells of the carotid body and located at the carotid bifurcation with characteristic splaying of the ICA and ECA (lyre sign).