title: Focal common carotid artery intramural hematoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Isolated focal common carotid artery dissection is a rare condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 43-year-old healthy woman suffered for the first time from a transient episode of word-finding difficulties, which was associated with her typical migraine headaches. A month prior to this event she had suffered from a minor whiplash injury. On routine work-up we found an isolated focal left common carotid mural hematoma and tiny acute left posterior watershed lesions on diffusion weighted images.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Focal isolated common carotid artery dissection is a rare condition not to be overlooked. This case presents an incidental finding possibly of traumatic nature. In the presence of concomitant migraine its causal embolic relation to the transient word-finding difficulties must remain open.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital and Medical Faculty of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Aurélien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viaccoz
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006406:Hematoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*