Internal Carotid Artery Branch, a Rare Case; a Case Report and Surgical Significance

The cervical portion of the internal carotid artery (ICA) arises at the bifurcation of the common carotid artery. The ICA usually does not have branches. We report a case of a 69-year-old female who had an ICA branch. The reported prevalence of ICA branches is 6.9%. During embryonic development, the vertebral artery (VA) receives a series of connections from the ICA. When these connections persists, it remains as branches from the ICA. The ICA branches can be associated with hypoplasia or aplasia of the segments of the VA. These branches should always be preserved during surgeries to prevent posterior circulation ischemia.