Internal carotid artery narrowing in children with retropharyngeal lymphadenitis and abscess.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to describe the association between narrowing of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and retropharyngeal abscess in children.


METHODS
Neck CT scans from 13 consecutive children with suppurative retropharyngeal lymphadenitis and abscess were evaluated retrospectively for asymmetric ICA diameters at the level of the abscess. Clinical status at the time of illness was established via a chart review. Twenty control CT scans obtained from pediatric patients with normal imaging findings were evaluated prospectively to determine symmetry and size of the ICA.


RESULTS
Mean diameter of the normal ICA, contralateral to the retropharyngeal abscess, was 5 mm (range, 3-8 mm), while mean diameter ipsilateral to the abscess was 3 mm (range, 1-5 mm). The diameters of the normal and abnormal ICAs were statistically significantly different. All children were neurologically normal. The right and left ICAs in children with normal CT findings in the neck were symmetrical in diameter.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite dramatic narrowing of the ICA ipsilateral to retropharyngeal lymphadenitis and abscess, no children in this series had neurologic deficits, suggesting that such narrowing is a common, benign, and, most likely, incidental imaging finding.
Hudgins
P A
PA
Department of Radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Dorey
J H
JH
Jacobs
I N
IN
D000293:Adolescent; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008199:Lymphadenitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017703:Retropharyngeal Abscess / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed