title: Bilateral retroesophageal course of the carotid arteries.
abstract: Many variations in the anatomy of the carotid artery are described in the literature. There are few case reports of hypoplasia or the retropharyngeal course of the internal carotid artery. We describe the unique case of a 72-year-old woman with bilateral complete retroesophageal common carotid arteries and concomitant hypoplasia of the right carotid system. Anatomical detection of such a variation is critical because the misidentification of a retroesophageal carotid artery carries the risk of potential injury during orotracheal intubation and oropharyngeal procedures.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular Surgery, Stony Brook University Hospital, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8191, USA.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Virvilis
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koullias
authors.forename: Nicos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Labropoulos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000002:abnormalities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D054079:Vascular Malformations / Q000175:diagnosis