scholarly journals Variant ascending pharyngeal artery maintaining flow in a subocclusive internal carotid artery

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. e230048
Author(s):  
Brian D Kim ◽  
Thomas J Oxley ◽  
Johanna T Fifi ◽  
Hazem Shoirah

Ectopic branches of the external carotid artery are rare but have critical diagnostic and therapeutic implications. We present a case involving a 70-year-old man who presented with recurrent left hemispheric strokes in the setting of a subocclusive left internal carotid stenosis. A left ascending pharyngeal artery with variant origin from the internal carotid artery helped maintain flow distal to the area of stenosis and allowed for safe and successful internal carotid artery stenting. Identification of this variant and recognition of the anastomotic network involving this connection were crucial to determine the safety of stenting. The patient had no further recurrent events and had sustained improvement on his 90-day follow-up.

Neurosurgery ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Xu ◽  
Todd A. Abruzzo ◽  
Felipe C. Albuquerque ◽  
Guilherme Dabus ◽  
Mark K. Eskandari ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND The external carotid artery (ECA) anastomoses in many distal territories supplied by the internal carotid artery (ICA) and is an important source of collateral circulation to the brain. Stenosis of the ECA in ipsilateral ICA occlusion can produce ischemic sequelae. OBJECTIVE To examine the effectiveness of ECA stenting in treating symptomatic ipsilateral ICA occlusion. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed patient databases from 5 academic medical centers to identify all individuals who underwent ECA stenting after 1998. For all discovered cases, coinvestigators used a common submission form to harvest relevant demographic information, clinical data, procedural details, and follow-up results for further analysis. RESULTS Twelve patients (median age, 66 years; range, 45–79 years) were identified for our cohort. Vessel disease involvement included severe ECA stenosis ≥ 70% in 11 patients and ipsilateral ICA occlusion in all patients. Presenting symptoms included signs of transient ischemic attack, stroke, and amaurosis fugax. ECA stenting was associated with preservation of neurological status in 11 patients and resolution of symptoms in 5 patients at a median follow-up time of 26 months (range, 1–87 months; mean, 29 months). Symptomatic in-stent restenosis did not occur within any patient during the follow-up course. CONCLUSION We found ECA stenting in symptomatic ipsilateral ICA disease to be a potentially effective strategy to preserve neurological function and to relieve ischemic symptoms. Further investigation with larger studies and longer follow-up periods is warranted to elucidate the true indications of this management strategy.


2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (suppl_5) ◽  
pp. ONS363-ONS370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuf Izci ◽  
Roham Moftakhar ◽  
Mark Pyle ◽  
Mustafa K. Basşkaya

Abstract Objective: Access to the high cervical internal carotid artery (ICA) is technically challenging for the treatment of lesions in and around this region. The aims of this study were to analyze the efficacy of approaching the high cervical ICA through the retromandibular fossa and to compare preauricular and postauricular incisions. In addition, the relevant neural and vascular structures of this region are demonstrated in cadaveric dissections. Methods: The retromandibular fossa approach was performed in four arterial and venous latex-injected cadaveric heads and necks (eight sides) via preauricular and postauricular incisions. This approach included three steps: 1) sternocleidomastoid muscle dissection; 2) transparotid dissection; and 3) removal of the styloid apparatus and opening of the retromandibular fossa to expose the cervical ICA with the internal jugular vein along with Cranial Nerves X, XI, and XII. Results: The posterior belly of the digastric muscle and the styloid muscles were the main obstacles to reaching the high cervical ICA. The high cervical ICA was successfully exposed through the retromandibular fossa in all specimens. In all specimens, the cervical ICA exhibited an S-shaped curve in the retromandibular fossa. The external carotid artery was located more superficially than the ICA in all specimens. The average length of the ICA in the retromandibular fossa was 6.8 cm. Conclusion: The entire cervical ICA can be exposed via the retromandibular fossa approach without neural and vascular injury by use of meticulous dissection and good anatomic knowledge. Mandibulotomy is not necessary for adequate visualization of the high cervical ICA.


2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 352-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santanu Chakraborty ◽  
Reem A. Adas

Purpose Neurologic determination of death or brain death is primarily a clinical diagnosis. This must respect all guarantees required by law and should be determined early to avoid unnecessary treatment and allow organ harvesting for transplantation. Ancillary testing is used in situations in which clinical assessment is impossible or confounded by other factors. Our purpose is to determine the utility of dynamic computed tomographic angiography (dCTA) as an ancillary test for diagnosis of brain death. Materials and Methods We retrospectively reviewed 13 consecutive patients with suspected brain death in the intensive care unit who had dCTA. Contrast appearance timings recorded from the dCTA data were compared to findings from 15 controls selected from patients who presented with symptoms of acute stroke but showed no stroke in follow-up imaging. Results The dCTA allows us to reliably assess cerebral blood flow and to record time of individual cerebral vessels opacification. It also helps us to assess the intracranial flow qualitatively against the flow in extracranial vessels as a reference. We compared the time difference between enhancement of the external and internal carotid arteries and branches. In all patients who were brain dead, internal carotid artery enhancement was delayed, which occurred after external carotid artery branches were opacified. Conclusion In patients with suspected brain death, dCTA reliably demonstrated the lack of cerebral blood flow, with extracranial circulation as an internal reference. Our initial results suggest that inversion of time of contrast appearance between internal carotid artery and external carotid artery branches at the skull base could predict a lack of distal intracranial flow.


Author(s):  
David Jordan ◽  
Louise Mawn ◽  
Richard L. Anderson

The anatomy of the orbital vascular bed is complex, with tremendous individual variation. The main arterial supply to the orbit is from the ophthalmic artery, a branch of the internal carotid artery. The external carotid artery normally contributes only to a small extent. However, there are a number of orbital branches of the ophthalmic artery that anastomose with adjacent branches from the external carotid artery, creating important anastomotic communications between the internal and external carotid arterial systems. The venous drainage of the orbit occurs mainly via two ophthalmic veins (superior and inferior) that extend to the cavernous sinus, but there are also connections with the pterygoid plexus of veins, as well as some more anteriorly through the angular vein and the infraorbital vein to the facial vein. A working knowledge of the orbital vasculature and lymphatic systems is important during orbital, extraocular, or ocular surgery. Knowing the anatomy of the blood supply helps one avoid injury to the arteries and veins during operative procedures within the orbit or the eyelid. Inadvertent injury to the vasculature not only distorts the anatomy and disrupts a landmark but also prolongs the surgery and might compromise blood flow to an important orbital or ocular structure. Upon entering the cranium, the internal carotid artery passes through the petrous portion of the temporal bone in the carotid canal and enters the cavernous sinus and middle cranial fossa through the superior part of the forame lacerum . It proceeds forward in the cavernous sinus with the abducens nerve along its side. There it is surrounded by sympathetic nerve fibers (the carotid plexus ) derived from the superior cervical ganglion. It then makes an upward S-shaped turn to form the carotid siphon , passing just medial to the oculomotor, trochlear, and ophthalmic nerves (V1). After turning superiorly in the anterior cavernous sinus, the carotid artery perforates the dura at the medial aspect of the anterior clinoid process and turns posteriorly, inferior to the optic nerve.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J Stapleton ◽  
Anoop P Patel ◽  
Brian P Walcott ◽  
Collin M Torok ◽  
Matthew J Koch ◽  
...  

Background While technological advances have improved the efficacy of endovascular techniques for tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulae (DAVF), superior petrosal sinus (SPS) DAVF with dominant internal carotid artery (ICA) supply frequently require surgical intervention to achieve a definitive cure. Methods To compare the angiographic and clinical outcomes of endovascular and surgical interventions in patients with SPS DAVF, the records of all patients with tentorial DAVF from August 2010 to November 2015 were reviewed. Results Within this cohort, eight patients with nine SPS DAVF were eligible for evaluation. Five DAVF were initially treated with endovascular embolization, while four underwent surgical occlusion without embolization. Of the SPS DAVF treated with embolization, two (40%) remained occluded on follow-up, while the remaining three (60%) persisted/recurred and required surgical intervention for definitive closure. Of the four SPS DAVF treated with primary surgical occlusion, all four (100%) remained closed on follow-up. In addition, of the three SPS DAVF that persisted/recurred following embolization and required subsequent surgical closure, all three (100%) remained occluded on follow-up. Two (100%) SPS DAVF that were successfully treated with embolization had major or minor external carotid artery supply, while the three (100%) persistent lesions had major ICA supply via the meningohypophyseal trunk (MHT). Three (75%) of the four SPS DAVF treated with primary surgical occlusion had dominant MHT supply. Conclusion Complete endovascular closure of SPS DAVF with dominant ICA supply via the MHT may be difficult to achieve, while upfront surgical intervention is associated with a high rate of complete occlusion.


2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. ONSE87-ONSE88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramachandra P. Tummala ◽  
Babak S. Jahromi ◽  
Junichi Yamamoto ◽  
Elad I. Levy ◽  
Adnan H. Siddiqui ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective The management of intraluminal carotid thrombus is not well defined. Medical and surgical management carry a relatively high risk of thromboembolism. Although endovascular options also carry the risk of thromboembolism from manipulation of the lesion, successful carotid stent placement using various methods of flow restriction has been reported anecdotally. We describe a technique to arrest antegrade flow before placement of carotid stents in the setting of symptomatic intraluminal thrombus. Clinical Presentation A 49-year-old woman presented with expressive dysphasia, right-upper extremity weakness, and an episode of left monocular blindness. Angiography confirmed the presence of a large intraluminal thrombus in a chronic dissection of the left internal carotid artery. Results We devised a configuration to arrest antegrade flow in the internal carotid artery before crossing the thrombus with a distal embolic protection device by inflating balloons in the common carotid artery and external carotid artery before crossing the lesion. After inflation of a balloon in the internal carotid artery, we completed overlapping stent placement to completely exclude the thrombus from the lumen. Conclusion The patient remained neurologically unchanged during and immediately after the procedure. She had mild neurological deficits at the 1 month follow-up evaluation. Follow-up ultrasonography at 1 and 3 months and computed tomographic angiography at 3 months after the procedure showed patency of the stented carotid artery, with no evidence of restenosis or thrombus. Although the risks of carotid stent placement for intraluminal thrombus remain unclear, the technique of flow arrest seems to provide a safe endovascular treatment option.


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