Common Carotid Artery Bifurcation Levels Related to Clinical Relevant Anatomical Landmarks

For most of the large arterial vessels, surgeons can rely on a constant anatomy. In head and neck surgery, the common carotid arteries are important landmarks, defining the plane of the dissection during radical neck surgery (Ord & Ward-Booth, 1986). Conventional angiography is considered the most accurate technique for diagnosis of carotid bifurcation diseases, such as stenosis (Schwartz et al., 1992). Thus, accurate evaluation of the carotid bifurcation level with non invasive techniques remains an important goal and external anatomical landmarks can be clinically useful in predicting the bifurcation level of the carotid artery. Despite the large number of anatomical variations descriptions of the carotid arteries, very little information is available in the literature on the diameter of these vessels. Knowledge of the size of these vessels might be important in improving local surgical techniques and also the radiological diagnosis of neck pathologies.