COMMON CAROTID ARTERY

Chief artery supplying head & neck.

ORIGIN:

Although the left and right common carotid arteries follow the same course through the neck, their origin differs.

On the left, the common carotid arises directly from the aortic arch that begins in the thorax in front of the trachea.

On the right, the origin is from the brachiocephalic trunk begins behind right sternoclavicular joint

The left common carotid artery can be thought of as having two distinct parts: thoracic and cervical.

The right common carotid arises caudally, it only really has a cervical portion.

In the thoracic section, the left common carotid travels upwards through the superior mediastinum to the level of the left sternoclavicular joint where it is continuous with the cervical portion.

The cervical section of both common carotids follows a similar course that lies in the carotid sheath.

Lies in front of the transverse process of lower 4 cervical vertebrae.

Each vessel passes obliquely upwards from behind the sternoclavicular joint to the level of the upper border of the thyroid cartilage.

In the lower neck, the two common carotid arteries are separated from each other by the trachea.

However, as the carotids rise in the neck, they diverge come to be separated by the thyroid gland, the larynx, and pharynx.

Each common carotid is contained within the carotid sheath which is derived from all 3 layers of the deep cervical fascia.

In addition to containing the common carotid artery, the sheath also comprises the internal jugular vein and vagus nerve: the vein lies lateral to the artery, with the nerve in between the two.

At the level of the fourth cervical vertebra, at the level of the upper thyroid, the vessel bifurcates into the external and internal carotids.

BRANCHES:

COMMON CAROTID ARTERY

Carotid Bifurcation(behind it lies carotid body)

(Lateral to external carotid)

Internal Carotid Artery

External Carotid Artery

↓(Branches)

Cervical Part: no branches in the neck

Petrous Part

→ CARDIO TYMPANIC

→ PTERYGOID BRANCH

Cavernous Part

→ BRANCHES TO TRIGEMINAL GANGLION

→ BRANCHES TO HYPOPHYSIS CEREBRI

Cerebral Part

→ OPHTHALMIC

→ ANTERIOR CEREBRAL

→ MEDIAL CEREBRAL

→ POSTERIOR CEREBRAL

→ ANTERIOR CHOROIDAL

↓(Branches)

Anterior

→ SUPERIOR THYROID

→ LINGUAL

→ FACIAL

Posterior

→ OCCIPITAL

→ POSTERIOR AURICULAR

Medial

→ ASCENDING PHARYNGEAL

Terminal

→ MAXILLARY

→ SUPERFICIAL TEMPORAL

APPLIED ANATOMY:

The common carotid artery can be felt at the lower part of the medial border of the sternocleidomastoid.

The common carotid artery is palpated at the upper border of the cricoid cartilage.

The commonest variation in the arteries arising from the arch of aorta is the Left common carotid artery arising from the brachiocephalic trunk.

Hanging causes a large amount of injury to the common carotid artery.

The dye is injected in common carotid in cerebral angiography.

Exam Important

The common carotid artery ends at the level of the upper border of the thyroid cartilage C4 (C3-C4 disc) where they bifurcate into the internal & external carotid artery.

The left common carotid arises directly from the aortic arch.

The right common carotid artery arises from the brachiocephalic trunk.

The internal carotid artery at the bifurcation from the common carotid is Lateral to the external carotid.

The common carotid artery can be compressed against anterior tubercle of the transverse process of C6 vertebra, known as carotid tubercle (Chassaignac tubercle), at cricoid cartilage level.

The common carotid artery can be felt along the anterior margin of sternocleidomastoid at the level of laryngeal prominence.

The common carotid artery is palpated at the upper border of the cricoid cartilage.

The commonest variation in the arteries arising from the arch of aorta is the Left common carotid artery arising from the brachiocephalic trunk.

Hanging causes a large amount of injury to the common carotid artery.

The dye is injected in common carotid in cerebral angiography.

The right common carotid artery arises from the brachiocephalic trunk.

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COMMON CAROTID ARTERY