PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A. Uchino
AU  - N. Saito
AU  - T. Watadani
AU  - W. Mizukoshi
AU  - R. Nakajima
TI  - Nonbifurcating Cervical Carotid Artery Diagnosed by MR Angiography
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A2462
DP  - 2011 Jun 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 1119--1122
VI  - 32
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/32/6/1119.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/32/6/1119.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2011 Jun 01; 32
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A nonbifurcating cervical carotid artery is a branching anomaly in which the ECA has no proximal main trunk. We report its incidence and characteristic features on MRA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed MRAs of 2866 patients obtained by using a standard noncontrast MRA protocol and two 1.5T MR imaging units and reviewed the English language literature to assess the occurrence and features of this nonbifurcating artery. RESULTS: We diagnosed 6 cases, indicating an incidence of 0.21%, and found 11 cases reported in the literature. Analysis of all 17 cases demonstrated no laterality or sex predominance. The most prevalent pattern of branching order from proximal to distal was the F-L trunk, the distal trunk of the ECA, and the OA. CONCLUSIONS: A nonbifurcating cervical carotid artery is rare but not as extremely rare as previously considered, and its correct diagnosis is necessary to avoid complications during interventional radiologic procedures or head and neck surgeries. APAascending pharyngeal arteryCCAcommon carotid arteryDSAdigital subtraction angiographyECAexternal carotid arteryFAfacial arteryF-Lfacial-lingualICAinternal carotid arteryLAlingual arteryMIPmaximum intensity projectionMRAMR angiographyOAoccipital arteryTOFtime-of-flightVAvertebral artery