Wandering carotid arteries: Reciprocating change between normal and retropharyngeal positions on serial CT studies

Radiology Case Reports

Yumi Okuyama¹  Hideomi Yamauchi²  Nobuhiro Ogino²  Hiroya Ojiri²  Akira Baba³  Yohei Munetomo³  Yuko Kobashi³  Takuji Mogami³  Shinji Yamazoe³ 

[1] Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Dental College Ichikawa General Hospital, Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan;Department of Radiology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan;Department of Radiology, Tokyo Dental College Ichikawa General Hospital, 5-11-13, Sugano, Ichikawa-shi, Chiba 2728513, Japan;

关键词: Carotid artery;    Retropharyngeal space;    Retropharyngeal artery;    Wandering;    Computed tomography;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.radcr.2017.07.007

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Positional change in the retropharyngeal carotid artery, a rare phenomenon over time, is even rarer in previous reports, and it is important to be aware of this before any neck surgical procedure. A woman in her 50s underwent an anterior maxillectomy for upper gingival cancer, without neck dissection. The patient had medical histories of diabetes mellitus and liver dysfunction, with unremarkable family histories. Serial neck contrast-enhanced computed tomography for detecting locoregional recurrence had been performed as a follow-up during 4 years. A radiological course of moving carotid arteries in serial computed tomography studies showed reciprocating positional changes (wandering) between normal and retropharyngeal regions. There was no locoregional recurrence of the gingival cancer. This is the first case to describe a so-rare presentation of wandering carotid arteries. It is important for clinicians to be aware of a wandering carotid artery to avoid potentially fatal complications.

【 授权许可】

Unknown