title: Imaging by multiple modalities of patients with a carotidynia syndrome.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to familiarize readers with the clinical syndrome of carotidynia. In the past, the International Headache Society (IHS) described idiopathic carotidynia as a diagnostic entity consisting of a self-limiting neck pain syndrome and tenderness over the carotid bifurcation without structural abnormality and then recently removed it from its classification. Although the clinical criteria of carotidynia in the former classification of the IHS included the absence of structural abnormality, several publications have demonstrated associated radiological findings and have described the usefulness of radiological investigations in diagnosing this syndrome. In this paper, we report four additional cases with a carotidynia clinical syndrome (according to the former classification) and the presence of abnormal soft tissue infiltration surrounding the symptomatic carotid artery as demonstrated by multiple imaging modalities, without any other underlying cause for the carotid pain syndrome. Our findings support the hypothesis that carotidynia could be a distinct disease entity, possibly caused by inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, 23-3, Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji- cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan. nkosaka@fmsrsa.fukui-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kosaka
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sagoh
authors.forename: Hidemasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uematsu
authors.forename: Hirohiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyayama
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Harumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Itoh
mesh_terms: D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003287:Contrast Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005260:Female; D020773:Headache Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013577:Syndrome
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media