Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion - Case 3

A 57 year-old man presented with a mild headache. His examination was normal. An MRI scan of the brain suggested an abnormality of the left internal carotid artery, which led to the patient undergoing a cerebral angiogram.

Show the Flow from the Right to Left Hemisphere                                                        Show the Occluded Internal Carotid
 
Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion: Cerebral Angiogram. (Left) right internal carotid artery injection - AP view; (Right) left common carotid artery injection, AP view. Note that the left internal carotid artery (ICA) is completely occluded. The entire right hemisphere is being perfused from the contralateral side. Thus, with an intact circle of Willis, some patients can be completely asymptomatic from a carotid occlusion. ACA = anterior cerebral artery, CCA = common carotid artery, ECA = external carotid artery, MCA = middle cerebral artery.

Revised 11/30/06
Copyrighted 2006. David C Preston