Clinical anatomy in the neck region--the position of external and internal carotid arteries may be reversed.

Knowledge of clinical anatomy in the neck region is useful for the diagnosis of primary tumors and metastatic lymph nodes. Arteries and nerves in the neck region of forty Japanese cadavers (80 cases), 18 males (36 cases) and 22 females (44 sides) were studied by dissection. We obtained the following results. Reverse of the location of the external and internal carotid arteries was found in 5 cases (6.3%). The course of the hypoglossal nerve made an acute curve and ran anterior-inferior in the neck region. In regard to the height of bifurcation of the common carotid artery (CC), high bifurcation was seen in 25 (31.2%), standard bifurcation in 46 (57.5%), and low bifurcation in 9 (11.3%) in a total of 80 cases. Furthermore, the facial artery had the largest inner diameter among the branches of the external carotid artery. Based on these findings, the facial artery will be one of the most beneficial arteries for transplantation as a recipient artery.