Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric Dissections

A tortuous common carotid artery poses a high risk of injury during tracheotomy. Preoperative diagnosis is therefore important to avoid serious complications. We found four cases of tortuous common carotid artery during an anatomical dissection course for students. The first case was a 91-year-old w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Joe Iwanaga, Koichi Watanabe, Saga Tsuyoshi, Yoko Tabira, Koh-ichi Yamaki
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Otolaryngology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2028402
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832566813108469760
author Joe Iwanaga
Koichi Watanabe
Saga Tsuyoshi
Yoko Tabira
Koh-ichi Yamaki
author_facet Joe Iwanaga
Koichi Watanabe
Saga Tsuyoshi
Yoko Tabira
Koh-ichi Yamaki
author_sort Joe Iwanaga
collection DOAJ
description A tortuous common carotid artery poses a high risk of injury during tracheotomy. Preoperative diagnosis is therefore important to avoid serious complications. We found four cases of tortuous common carotid artery during an anatomical dissection course for students. The first case was a 91-year-old woman who had bilateral tortuous common carotid arteries without arteriosclerosis. Case 2 was a 78-year-old woman who had bilateral tortuous common carotid arteries without arteriosclerosis. Case 3 was an 86-year-old woman who died from bladder cancer and who also had a right tortuous common carotid artery without arteriosclerosis. Case 4 was an 89-year-old woman who had bilateral tortuous common carotid arteries and a tortuous brachiocephalic artery with severe arteriosclerosis. Case 4 was also examined using computed tomography to evaluate the arteriosclerosis. Computed tomography revealed severe calcification of the vascular wall, which was confirmed in the aortic arch and origins of its branches. In all four cases, the tortuosity was located below the level of the thyroid gland. Based on prior study results indicating that fusion between the carotid sheath and visceral fascia was often evident at the level of the thyroid gland, we speculated that the major region in which tortuosity occurs is at the same level or inferior to the level of the thyroid gland.
format Article
id doaj-art-49d22aa563324ab98d42a21ffdd4a43a
institution Kabale University
issn 2090-6765
2090-6773
language English
publishDate 2016-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Case Reports in Otolaryngology
spelling doaj-art-49d22aa563324ab98d42a21ffdd4a43a2025-02-03T01:03:11ZengWileyCase Reports in Otolaryngology2090-67652090-67732016-01-01201610.1155/2016/20284022028402Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric DissectionsJoe Iwanaga0Koichi Watanabe1Saga Tsuyoshi2Yoko Tabira3Koh-ichi Yamaki4Department of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-0011, JapanDepartment of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-0011, JapanDepartment of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-0011, JapanDepartment of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-0011, JapanDepartment of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-0011, JapanA tortuous common carotid artery poses a high risk of injury during tracheotomy. Preoperative diagnosis is therefore important to avoid serious complications. We found four cases of tortuous common carotid artery during an anatomical dissection course for students. The first case was a 91-year-old woman who had bilateral tortuous common carotid arteries without arteriosclerosis. Case 2 was a 78-year-old woman who had bilateral tortuous common carotid arteries without arteriosclerosis. Case 3 was an 86-year-old woman who died from bladder cancer and who also had a right tortuous common carotid artery without arteriosclerosis. Case 4 was an 89-year-old woman who had bilateral tortuous common carotid arteries and a tortuous brachiocephalic artery with severe arteriosclerosis. Case 4 was also examined using computed tomography to evaluate the arteriosclerosis. Computed tomography revealed severe calcification of the vascular wall, which was confirmed in the aortic arch and origins of its branches. In all four cases, the tortuosity was located below the level of the thyroid gland. Based on prior study results indicating that fusion between the carotid sheath and visceral fascia was often evident at the level of the thyroid gland, we speculated that the major region in which tortuosity occurs is at the same level or inferior to the level of the thyroid gland.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2028402
spellingShingle Joe Iwanaga
Koichi Watanabe
Saga Tsuyoshi
Yoko Tabira
Koh-ichi Yamaki
Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric Dissections
Case Reports in Otolaryngology
title Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric Dissections
title_full Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric Dissections
title_fullStr Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric Dissections
title_full_unstemmed Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric Dissections
title_short Tortuous Common Carotid Artery: A Report of Four Cases Observed in Cadaveric Dissections
title_sort tortuous common carotid artery a report of four cases observed in cadaveric dissections
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2028402
work_keys_str_mv AT joeiwanaga tortuouscommoncarotidarteryareportoffourcasesobservedincadavericdissections
AT koichiwatanabe tortuouscommoncarotidarteryareportoffourcasesobservedincadavericdissections
AT sagatsuyoshi tortuouscommoncarotidarteryareportoffourcasesobservedincadavericdissections
AT yokotabira tortuouscommoncarotidarteryareportoffourcasesobservedincadavericdissections
AT kohichiyamaki tortuouscommoncarotidarteryareportoffourcasesobservedincadavericdissections