Idiopathic Carotidynia

Abstract

Idiopathic carotidynia is a syndrome characterized by pain and tenderness over the carotid artery without an associated structural luminal abnormality. Controversy exists over whether this is a distinct disease entity or merely a symptom attributable to other causes of neck pain, such as carotid dissection or vasculitis. A 50-year-old woman presented with sudden-onset right neck pain. Imaging studies demonstrated transmural inflammation of the proximal internal carotid artery, without evidence of intraluminal pathology. The patient was placed on low-dose aspirin and ibuprofen. Her symptoms resolved within a week. At 3-month follow-up, her carotid artery appeared normal on duplex ultrasonography.

An unusual case of carotidynia preceding recurrent ischemic stroke with carotid thrombosis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus

“…8 Carotidynia is a rare clinical manifestation that presents with atypical pain or point tenderness over the carotid artery bifurcation. 9 Differential diagnoses of carotid pain, such as carotid dissection, thyroiditis, vasculitis, head and neck inflammation or mass, sialadenitis, or cervical arthrosis, should be excluded. 2 The patient received careful clinical, serological, and radiological investigations to exclude the common etiology potentially responsible for this syndrome; therefore, carotidynia in our case is supposed to be the preceding symptom of carotid thrombosis, which is associated with SLE.…”