Abstract
Hyperplasia is the commonest form of histological abnormality which occurs in the carotid body, with the exception of chronic carotid glomitis (see Chapter 6). It is associated with a diversity of diseases, including pulmonary emphysema, bronchial asthma and systemic hypertension, but the underlying cause of hyperplasia in all of them is probably hypoxaemia. Hyperplasia may be suspected on naked-eye examination at necropsy but it has to be confirmed by microscopy. Unequivocal proof that glomic cells have proliferated is obtained by using morphometric techniques to determine the total number of cells present and comparing this figure with that from normal organs, as outlined in Chapter 3. This is a very time-consuming procedure suitable only for research projects on a limited number of cases. A less arduous and more rapid technique is a differential count of the various types of cell present, which may suggest rather than prove the existence of hyperplasia. Even a purely qualitative examination of the characteristic histological changes of carotid body hyperplasia may suggest the condition to the practised eye.
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© 1992 Springer-Verlag London Limited
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Heath, D., Smith, P. (1992). Carotid Body Hyperplasia. In: Diseases of the Human Carotid Body. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1874-9_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1874-9_10
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