Ectopic internal carotid artery presenting as an oropharyngeal mass

Emmanuel P Prokopakis¹ , Constantinos A Bourolias¹ , Argyro J Bizaki¹ , Spyros K Karampekios² , George A Velegrakis¹ and John G Bizakis¹

¹Department of Otolaryngology, University of Crete School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

²Department of Radiology, University of Crete School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

author email corresponding author email

Head & Face Medicine 2008, 4:20doi:10.1186/1746-160X-4-20


Published:	26 August 2008

Abstract

Ectopic internal carotid artery (ICA) is a very rare variation. The major congenital abnormalities of the ICA can be classified as agenesis, aplasia and hypoplasia, and they can be unilateral or bilateral. Anomalies of the neck artery may be vascular neoplasms or ectopic position. Carotid angiograms provide absolute confirmation of an aberrant carotid artery, while EcoColorDoppler (ECD) gives also important information about the evaluation of carotid vassels. Nevertheless Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the neck provide spatial information about the adjacent pharyngeal anatomy and are less invasive than angiogram. Injuries to the ICA during simple pharyngeal surgical procedures can be catastrophic due to the risk of massive bleeding. We report a case of a 56 year-old male patient suffering from dysphagia associated with aberrant ICA manifesting itself as a pulsative protruding of the left lateral wall of the oropharynx.