Common carotid artery dissection: a rare cause of acute neck swelling.
Spontaneous carotid artery dissection is a rare condition with potentially devastating consequences. Internal carotid artery and vertebral artery dissections have been implicated as the cause of 20% of strokes occurring in patients younger than 45 years. We describe a very rare case of a nontraumatic common carotid artery dissection in a 45-year-old man that was initially misdiagnosed as a sternocleidomastoid hematoma. This case highlights the need for vigilance for this often-missed diagnosis, as well as the indication for noninvasive imaging in unidentified neck swellings.
Department of Plastic Surgery, UHNM NHS Trust, Royal Stoke University Hospital, Newcastle Rd., Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6QG, UK. adilaku@hotmail.com.
Muhammad Adil
MA
Khan
Alasdair
A
Moffat
Waseem
W
Ahmed
Julian
J
Wong
Changez
C
Jadun
D017541:Aneurysm, False / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004487:Edema / Q000209:etiology*; D006406:Hematoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed