Thyrolingual Trunk Arising from Common Carotid Artery- A Case Report.

Superior Thyroid Artery (STA) usually arises from the ventral surface of the External Carotid Artery (ECA) just below the level of tip of greater cornu of hyoid bone and it runs anteriorly, downwards and medially. Lingual artery arises at the level of tip of greater cornu of hyoid bone and it runs anteriorly, upwards and medially. Rarely, both STA and lingual artery may originate as a common trunk called thyrolingual trunk. But a thyrolingual trunk arising from Common Carotid Artery (CCA) is very rare. We report a case of patient diagnosed to have carcinoma of right lower alveolus with nodal recurrence; with thyrolingual trunk arising from the medial aspect of CCA, which was detected incidentally during neck dissection.