Dear Editor, Vagal paragangliomas are uncommon tumors of the parapharyngeal space, approximately 200 cases having been reported. They arise from tissue of the extra adrenal sympathetic nervous system. They mostly manifest as a painless neck mass near the angle of the mandible usually between the skull base and the hyoid bone. The other manifestations are hoarseness and less commonly dysphagia, ...

BACKGROUND In order to better understand the role of work environment in the earlier stages of the cardiovascular disease process, we wanted to investigate the influence of work-related psychosocial factors on preclinical atherosclerosis. METHODS Cross-sectional data was used to examine the association between psychological job demands, job decision latitude, and carotid atherosclerosis in 26...

The carotid sinus of the carotid artery (CA) bifurcation is one of the favored sites for the genesis and development of atherosclerotic lesions. The direct reason is carotid arteries bifurcation and stenoses may lead to great flow pattern change. Aim of this article is to investigate the effect of different eccentric stenosis of internal carotid artery on blood flow. The blood flow in artery is...

We report the case of a 72-year-old man with bilateral intrathoracic carotid bifurcations associated with a Klippel-Feil anomaly. The left and right carotid bifurcations were located at levels corresponding to the second and fourth thoracic vertebrae, respectively. A possible association between low carotid bifurcation and the Klippel-Feil anomaly is suggested.

Malignant carotid body tumors are rare neoplasms which originate from the chemoreceptor cells at the carotid bifurcation. A 61-year-old man presented with a neck mass which was diagnosed as a malignant carotid body tumor. Surgical resection of the mass with accompanying lymph nodes was performed. No evidence for local recurrence or distant metastasis were detected during the follow-up period.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Several prospective trials have shown that ischemic stroke can be prevented by performing an endarterectomy in patients with high-grade carotid stenosis. Our purpose was to ascertain the frequency of carotid artery tandem lesions and to determine whether their presence alters the surgeon's decision to perform an endarterectomy. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the ce...

Limited studies have examined the association between sodium (Na) and potassium (K) levels and the risk of atherosclerosis. This study examined whether higher Na and Na/K levels and low K levels were independent risk factors for atherosclerosis. This community-based cross-sectional study included 3290 subjects (1067 men and 2223 women) 40 to 75 years of age in Guangzhou, China, between 2011 and...

A simple, practical method of applying incremental dynamic computed tomography (CT) to the imaging of 20 carotid bifurcations is described. The results are compared with those obtained by conventional carotid angiography and intravenous digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Conventional angiography provided additional information about the carotid bifurcation in only one of 14 cases, while inc...

Transient three-dimensional laminar incompressible dilute suspension flow in rigid in-plane carotid artery bifurcations has been solved with a user-enhanced finite-volume program. Instantaneous velocity vector and wall shear stress vector fields illustrate strong "disturbed flow" patterns. Implications of elevated surface contours of hemodynamic wall parameters, indicating such disturbed flows,...

Boundary layer separation in a plexiglass model carotid bifurcation was investigated in relation to the origin of atherosclerotic plaque clinically found in this region. Our model was comparable to a human carotid in both dimensions and geometry. Water flowed through the model at Reynolds numbers from 200 to 1200 under steady and pulsatile flow conditions, with outflow through the external and ...