Carotid artery dissection Carotid artery dissection Carotid artery dissection is a separation of the layers of the artery wall supplying oxygen-bearing blood to the head and brain and is the most common cause of stroke in young adults. (In vascular medicine, dissection is a blister-like de-lamination between the outer and inner walls of a blood vessel, generally originating with a partial leak in the inner lining.) The signs and symptoms of carotid artery dissection may be divided into ischemic and non-ischemic categories: "Non-ischemic signs and symptoms" "Ischemic signs and symptoms" The causes of internal carotid artery dissection can be broadly categorised into two
Internal carotid artery is known as the carotid sinus or the carotid bulb. The ascending portion of the cervical segment occurs distal to the bulb, when the vessel walls are again parallel. The internal carotid runs vertically upward in the carotid sheath and enters the skull through the carotid canal. During this part of its course, it lies in front of the transverse processes of the upper three cervical vertebrae. It is relatively superficial at its start, where it is contained in the carotid triangle of the neck, and lies behind and medial to the external carotid, overlapped by the sternocleidomastoid muscle, and