What is a carotid body tumor?

What is a carotid body tumor?

A carotid body tumor (also called a chemodectoma or paraganglioma) is a growth on the side of your neck in the area where the carotid artery splits off into smaller blood vessels that carry blood to your brain. You have two carotid arteries ─ one on each side of your neck ─ that supply blood to the front of the brain, which is responsible for thinking, speech, personality, and sensory and motor functions.