Anatomical Variations of the Common Carotid Artery Bifurcations in Relation to the Cervical Vertebrae in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: The carotid arterial system which consists of right and left common carotid arteries is the main arterial supply of the head and neck. Studies show that variations exist to the level of bifurcation of the common carotid artery. Knowledge of these variations is of importance for surgical approaches in the head and neck region, such as carotid endarterectomy, radical neck dissection, catheterization etc, thereby reduce the risk of operative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing operations, involving the common carotid artery. Objective: The main purpose of the study was to assess height of the common carotid artery bifurcation in relation to the cervical vertebrae. Method: Observational based descriptive study was conducted on thirteen human preserved cadavers, which were obtained from the departments of human anatomy, Colleges of Medicine and Health Sciences, Gondar and Bahirdar Universities and Gamby College of Medical Sciences–Bahirdar after the approval of the ethical committee. Results: The bifurcation of the common carotid artery was found high in 12 (46.15%) of the cases among which the most common levels of bifurcation was at the level of C3 (42.3%). 14 (53.85%) of the cases was standard of which C4 (38.4%) was the most common and low bifurcation was not found. It was also found that in 61.5% of the cases the carotid bifurcation was asymmetrical between the right and left sides. Conclusions: The present study showed that standard level of bifurcations was found to be more common than high level and low bifurcation was not found. The level of bifurcation was generally asymmetrical between right and left sides. Thus anatomical knowledge of the variability of carotid bifurcation levels will be useful for clinicians, to avoid unnecessary complications.