Soft tissue metastasis of a chemodectoma: a case report and review of the literature.

A case of a single soft tissue metastases (abdominal wall) occurring 15 years after removal of chemodectoma of the right carotid bifurcation is described. The tumor had apparently been completely removed with excision of portions of the common, external and internal carotid arteries up to the base of the skull. Seven years later osteolytic and osteoblastic lesions were noted in the cervical and thoracic vertebrae which were radiated with 3500 rad. The 19 previously reported cases of chemodectomas with distant metastases are reviewed.