Common carotid artery

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<br><br>Common carotid artery (lat.arteria carotis communis) – a paired artery, originates in the chest cavity, right from the brachiocephalic trunk (lat.truncus brachiocephalicus) and left – from the aortic arch (lat.arcus aortae), therefore the left artery is several centimeters longer than the right … It supplies blood to the brain, organ of vision and most of the head.<br>Topography<br>The common carotid artery rises almost vertically upward and exits through the apertura thoracis superior into the neck region. Here it is located on the front surface of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae and the muscles covering them, on the side of the trachea and esophagus, behind the sternocleidomastoid muscle and the pretracheal plate of the fascia of the neck with the scapular-hyoid muscle embedded in it, (Latin musculus omohyoideus). Outside of the common carotid artery is the internal jugular vein (Latin vena jugularis interna), and behind in the groove between them is the vagus nerve (Latin nervus vagus).<br>Branches<br>The common carotid artery in its course does not give branches and at the level of the upper edge of the thyroid cartilage is divided into:<br>external carotid artery (lat.arteria carotis externa),internal carotid artery (lat.arteria carotis interna).<br>At the site of division there is an enlarged part of the common carotid artery – the carotid sinus (Latin sinus caroticus), to which there is a small nodule – the sleepy ball (Latin glomus caroticum) representing the reflexogenic zone, with external stimulation (mechanical impact, atherosclerotic changes) of which a fall occurs blood pressure, which in turn can cause loss of consciousness due to .<br>Blood flow<br>Normal blood flow for the brain is 55 ml / 100 g of tissue, and the oxygen demand is 3.7 ml / min / 100 g. This volume of blood supply is provided by normal arteries with normal intima and intact vascular lumen. Possible, due to various reasons (atherosclerosis, nonspecific aorto-arteritis, fibromuscular dysplasia, collagenosis, tuberculosis, syphilis, etc.), narrowing of the lumen of the carotid arteries leads to a decrease in the blood supply to the brain, disruption of metabolic processes and its ischemia. In more than 90% of cases, the culprit for the development of this pathology is atherosclerosis – a chronic disease of blood vessels with the formation of foci of lipid (cholesterol) plaques in their walls, followed by their hardening and calcium deposition, leading to deformation and narrowing of the lumen of the vessels up to their complete occlusion. Unstable atherosclerotic plaques tend to ulcerate and disintegrate over time, which leads to arterial thrombosis, thromboembolism of its branches or embolism by their atheromatous masses.<br>

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