Anomalous branching of the left common carotid artery with associated atherosclerotic changes: a case report.

Numerous anatomic variants of the internal and external carotid arteries have been described [1-6]. We report on an unusual variant of external carotid artery anatomy in which no identifiable main external carotid trunk was present, and thus no true carotid bifurcation existed . The bifurcation as it existed was reduced to anomalous branching of a common facial-lingual trunk. Marked atherosclerotic plaque had developed in the absence of turbulent flow, at the site of baroreceptor incorporation.