Unilateral spontaneous dissection of the internal carotid artery presenting as hypoglossal nerve palsy.

A rare case of an isolated unilateral hypoglossal nerve palsy in a 61-year-old man is reported. Imaging showed a dissection of the extracranial internal carotid artery. The expansion of the circumference of the artery causes compression of the hypoglossal nerve resulting in a palsy. To the best of our knowledge this disorder has twice been dealt with in the otorhinolaryngological literature.