title: Aberrant retropharyngeal (submucosal) internal carotid artery: an under-recognized, clinically significant variant.
abstract: We present a case of a 71-year-old woman who was incidentally found to have aberrant retropharyngeal internal carotid artery, lying very close to the pharyngeal mucosa, on imaging. Radiologists, otolaryngologists and anaesthetists should be aware of this clinically significant variant which can result in life-threatening bleeding during procedures in the oral cavity or oropharynx.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, 90 Yishun Central, Singapore, 768228, Republic of Singapore. sivasu2@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sivasubramanian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Syed Zama
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Lim Tze
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Chwan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D063405:Anatomic Variation; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology