Tan J, et al. - Researchers investigated if there was a link between carotid body volume and hypertension or other sympathetic-related diseases in a study sample of eligible consecutive individuals undergoing carotid ultrasonography (n=1,226). With an overall carotid body detection rate of 78.7% (965/1,226), carotid bodies looked like solid, pebble-shaped, hypoechoic structures. A positive association of hypertension, chronic heart failure (CHF), chronic lung disease, smoking, and high BMI with carotid body enlargement was found in univariate and multivariate regression analyses. Simple hypertensive, simple CHF, and simple smoking groups exhibited significantly elevated carotid body volume vs controls. Significantly larger carotid bodies were detected among subjects with three comorbidities vs those with one or two comorbidities. Findings revealed a strong association of carotid body enlargement with hypertension and other sympathetic-associated diseases or risk factors.