Traumatic carotid artery dissection: diagnosis and treatment

Early diagnosis and successful management of traumatic carotid artery dissections require a high index of clinical suspicion. The diagnostic study of choice is cerebral arteriography. In this paper, 24 cases of traumatic carotid artery dissection are described. Presenting signs and symptoms include Horner's syndrome, dysphasia, hemiparesis, obtundation, and monoparesis. Patients detected early with mild neurological deficits fared well with treatment, while those with profound neurological deficits and delayed diagnoses had poor outcomes. Aggressive nonsurgical treatment is advocated including anticoagulation therapy for prevention of progressive thrombosis and arterial occlusion and/or distal arterial embolization with resultant cerebral ischemia. Direct surgical thromboendarterectomy is considered to carry high morbidity and mortality rates.