FIG 1. 48-year-old man with left-sided carotidynia.

A, Axial T1-weighted image (700/16/2 [TR/TE/excitations]) at the level of the distal common carotid artery. A skin marker has been placed over the area of swelling and tenderness. Note the abnormal soft-tissue signal surrounding the left carotid (arrow).

B, Axial contrast-enhanced T1-weighted image (550/16/2) shows striking enhancement of the tissue surrounding the artery.

C, Coronal contrast-enhanced T1-weighted image (550/16/2) shows the enhancement extending to the level of the carotid bifurcation (arrows). A lymph node is seen above the bifurcation (arrowhead).

D, Axial contrast-enhanced T1-weighted image (500/12/2) obtained several months later, while the patient remained asymptomatic, shows resolution of the thick rim of enhancement.