Dysphagia Caused by Elongation and Tortuosity of the Common Carotid Artery

Abstract

BUCKLING of the major arteries in the neck and mediastinum was described during the last century by Coulson¹ (1852) and by Balfour² (1898), but not until the introduction of contrast angiography did this clinical entity become more widely recognized.³ Ouattlebaum and his associates⁴ recently indicted elongation and kinking of the internal carotid artery as a cause of transient stroke, although the anatomic abnormality may be found also in the absence of neurologic symptoms. On occasion other vascular malformations in this region, such as arterial aneurysms⁵ and anomalies of the aortic arch, may give rise to symptoms of dysphagia by externally . . .