JRSM > Volume 98, Number 6 > Pp. 275-276

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Tortuous common carotid artery as a cause of dysphagia

Ashish Gupta MRCS     Marc C Winslet MS FRCS  

University Department of Surgery, Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, London NW3 2QG, UK

Correspondence to: Professor Marc C Winslet

Dysphagia lusoria can be caused by any type of vascular ring¹ but is commonly associated with an aberrant left or right subclavian artery, a right aortic arch or a common carotid artery aneurysm.²

CASE HISTORY

A woman of 82 was seen in outpatients after eight weeks of mild postcibal epigastric discomfort. She also gave a long history of dysphagia. 18 years previously, dilatation of an oesophageal stricture had been unsuccessful and the dysphagia had continued—only to solids, with occasional episodes of food bolus obstruction and difficulty in swallowing certain tablets. There had been no weight loss or change in appetite.

Her medical history included polymyalgia rheumatica, for which she was on steroids, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She had smoked till the age of 40. On examination there was no pulsatile mass in the neck and the carotid pulsations on both sides were normal. A barium swallow showed a tight stricture of the lower cervical oesophagus with dilatation of the pharynx and the upper cervical oesophagus proximal to the stricture. The stomach and the duodenum were normal. The stricture had a smooth margin consistent with an extrinsic compression (Figure 1). MRI of the neck showed a tortuous right common carotid artery indenting the oesophagus (Figures 2 and 3). Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was not performed because of the patient's poor cardiac status.

View larger version (95K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Barium swallow showing tight stricture of cervical oesophagus with proximal dilatation

 

View larger version (106K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 2. MR angiogram showing tortuous right common carotid artery

 

View larger version (143K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 3. Axial MRI showing right common carotid artery displacing oesophagus to left

 

COMMENT

Dysphagia from carotid artery kinks and coils seems very rare. In reported cases the internal carotid artery has usually been responsible. We have found only one case due to common carotid artery tortuosity—in which the redundant part of the artery was surgically resected and the dysphagic symptoms resolved completely.⁴ Elongation and kinking of the carotid artery are usually due to atherosclerosis or fibromuscular dysplasia,⁵ but the unusual location of the proximal common carotid artery coil in this patient is most likely congenital rather than atherosclerotic.

In a fitter patient the treatment of choice would have been a carotid shortening procedure. Dilatation by balloon or stent might provide palliation at the risk of cerebrovascular catastrophe and is contraindicated unless the vessel is known to be occluded.

REFERENCES

1. Morris CD, Kanter KR, Miller JI. Late-onset dysphagia lusoria. Ann Thorac Surg2001; 71:710 -12[Abstract/Free Full Text]

2. Furukawa H, Tsuchiya K, Osawa H, Saito H, Iida Y. Saccular descending thoracic aortic aneurysm with dysphagia. Jpn J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg1999; 47:277 -80[Medline]

3. Takano S, Miyajima K, Sugiura E, Aramaki H. Two cases of tortuous internal carotid artery. Practica Oto-Rhino-Laryngologica2003; 96:559 -62

4. Lin PH, Bush RL, Reddy P, Lumsden AB. An unusual cause of dysphagia. Coil of the proximal common carotid artery: a case report. Vasc Surg2000; 34:521 -6

5. Schenk P, Temmel A, Tratting S, Kainberger F. Current aspects in diagnosis and therapy of carotid artery kinking. HNO1996; 44:178 -85[Medline]

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This Article Figures Only Full Text (PDF) Send a Quick Comment Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Quick Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gupta, A. Articles by Winslet, M. C Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?