Minute pulmonary chemodectoma

Abstract

The minute chemodectomas of the lung belong to the paraganglioma group of neoplasms, which include carotid and aortic body tumors. They are frequently multiple, small in size, and are nearly always detected fortuitously on histologic examination of sections of a lung taken from an older patient. They are believed to arise from the normal chemoreceptors of the lung. There is no indication that these small neoplasms are functional. It has been proposed that pulmonary chemodectomas may be induced by pulmonary thromboemboli. This possibility gains some support from an analysis of 10 new cases and a review of 46 cases previously reported. Copyright © 1971 American Cancer Society