Value of MR and CT Imaging for Assessment of Internal Carotid Artery Encasement in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Figure 1

Neck dissections performed between 2001 and 2010. ECA: external carotid artery. ICA: internal carotid artery. This figure shows 551 patients in which 608 neck dissections were performed. In total 260 cases were studied after exclusion. In 236 cases no encasement was found during operation. In 20 cases (7.7%) encasement of the external carotid artery was seen. In four cases encasement of the internal carotid artery was present (4/260 = 1.5%). Two cases had MRI and 2 had CT preoperatively.