Common Carotid Dissection following a Bike Injury—Unusual Cause of Carotid Bruit

Abstract

Carotid dissection is not typically a diagnosis made on ultrasound in an asymptomatic individual. Several factors made this case unique in the literature, including the fact that the dissection was in the distal common carotid artery rather than internal carotid, which allowed the injury to be directly visible by ultrasound. Rather than presenting with acute transient ischemic attack or stroke, headache, or cranial nerve palsy, this patient was referred for an asymptomatic bruit several months after the trauma, which presumably caused the dissection. The lesion identified by ultrasound was unusual, with a high-grade stenosis created by a mobile flap in the artery.