Absence of the right internal carotid artery found during autopsy of a severe burn case

Since absence and hypoplasia of the internal carotid arteries are known to be rare anomalies but often presents no symptoms, most such cases are accidentally revealed by a carotid angiogram performed for patients with cerebrovascular disease. We herein report the autopsy findings for a 65-year-old man who burned to death in an apartment fire. Medicolegal autopsy revealed absence of the right internal carotid artery. However, malformation of the brain was not observed. Generally, it is difficult to decide the manner of death in an autopsy case of death due to burn, however, it is possible that the manner of death was natural death in this case.