Agenesia unilateral de la arteria carótida interna

Introduction. Unilateral agenesis of the internal carotid artery is an extremely rare developmenlal anoinaly (incidence: 0.01%). Diagnosis is ojien incidental in a radiological examinador!.. Most ofíhe cases described are in older patients with symptoms of cerebrovascular disorders. We review the anatomy, dijferenlial diagnosis and clinical implications of the se malformations as the high prevalence of cerebral aneurysms. Case reports. We report the clinical and imaging findings oftwo cases of agenesis ofthe internal carotid artery, one on the right in a 4 years oldfemale, and emother on the left, in a 58 years oíd woman. Conclusions. High resolution CT to demónstrate the absence ofthe carotid canal at the skull. base and angio-MR are the radiological proves used lo confirm the diagnosis. Although man y of these cases remain asymptomatic, their recognition has importan! implications, specially when we are planning carolid endarterectomy, because both cerebral hemispheres muy be dependent upon the atheromatous carolid. [ANGIOLOGIA 2009; 61: 213-7]