Carotid body
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Left carotid body of a chicken (HE): dorsal overview
The carotid body (glomus caroticum) is a paired chemoreceptive organ involved in respiratory reflexes. The carotid bodies are located at the beginning of the left and right common carotid artery (a. carotis communis sinistra/ a. carotis communis dextra) respectively and lie closely associated to the parathyroids and ultimobranchial bodies.
The carotid bodies are well innervated by especially nerve fibers coming from the nearby distal nodose ganglion of the vagus (ganglion nodosum) and the recurrent laryngeal nerve (n. laryngeus recurrens).