Bilateral higher carotid termination with rare anomalous emergence of ventral branches of the external carotid arteries: A cadaver study

Abstract

The common carotid artery bifurcates into two terminal branches—the external and internal carotid arteries. The head, neck, and face regions principally get their blood supply from the external carotid artery and its branches. Some previous articles have mentioned the abnormal pattern of the external carotid artery branching and its variable origin. In this article, a rare case has been documented, having the combination of anomalies of the high carotid termination and bilateral variable origin of the ventral branches of the external carotid artery encountered during routine dissection of the head and neck region of a 55-year-old male cadaver in the Department of Anatomy. In this instance, on the right side of the neck, we observed the presence of a thyrolinguofacial trunk which arose from the ventral surface of the external carotid artery, and on the left side, the linguofacial trunk emerged from the ventral surface of the external carotid artery while the superior thyroid artery branched off directly from the left common carotid artery. This apart, there was bilateral high termination of the common carotid artery. Although the exact embryogenesis of such common arterial trunks anomalies and high carotid termination is not clear, detailed and precise anatomical knowledge of such a combination of anomalies will provide further insight for better radiological evaluation and to avert iatrogenic vascular injuries during any surgical procedures of the head and face region.