Intimal dissection of the superficial temporal artery.

Three patients who underwent superficial temporal-middle cerebral artery anastomosis demonstrated a dissection of the intima of the superficial temporal artery at operation. The fact that this abnormality had not been appreciated previously in surgical series and that it and other anatomical variants may account for "technical failures" of anastomoses is elucidated. The authors describe their successful technique for suturing the intimal flap.