Arterial Vascular Variation of the Head and Neck and Its Clinical Significance

Arterial vascular variation of the head and neck is common and is often overlooked because of the lack of obvious clinical symptoms. Variations are generally detected accidentally by head and neck computed tomography angiography (CTA), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) or ultrasound. Considering the lack of adequate understanding of the presence and location of the arterial vascular variations of the head and neck, vessels are easily injured or incorrectly ligated intraoperatively. Sometimes this could even cause fatal consequences. Therefore, in recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the diagnosis and assessment of arterial vascular variations of the head and neck.