Paragangliomas are tumors arising from the paraglion tissue which is well represented in the head and neck. Carotid body tumor is a paraganglioma situated at the bifurcation of the common carotid artery. We describe here a case of 32 year old male with painless swelling on the right side of the neck clinically diagnosed as right jugulodigastric region lymphadenopathy. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the swelling was done. On examination, the aspirate was haemorrhagic and showed cohesive clusters of round to oval neoplastic cells arranged in acinar pattern with finely granular chromatin and moderate amount of cytoplasm interspersed by spindle cells. Based on these cytologic findings and the location of the swelling, a diagnosis of carotid body tumor was made. The tumor was excised and findings confirmed on histopathological examination. This was a rare finding because diagnosis was made in a young male and was an incidental finding with no clinical history suggestive of carotid body tumor. This case adds to the existing literature on cytological diagnosis of carotid body tumor, further attesting to its safety and accuracy.
