Ophthalmoplegia as a presenting manifestation of internal carotid artery dissection.

We present the case of a patient with an ipsilateral ophthalmoplegia as the presentation of a traumatic dissection of the internal carotid artery. We hypothesize that the cranial nerves dysfunction occurred because of interruption of the vascular supply to the nerves in the cavernous sinus from the inferolateral trunk of the cavernous carotid artery.