Acute onset progressive hemiparesis in a case of head and neck injury

Traumatic carotid artery injury is an increasingly recognized complication of severe blunt head or neck trauma in patients with motor vehicle accidents. A 22-year-old male presented after a high-velocity road traffic accident and sustained head, neck and systemic injuries. Initially the patient was neurologically stable and initial CT scan brain was also apparently normal. Few hours after the injury, the patient developed progressive left hemiparesis. MRI of brain was suggestive of acute infarct involving right internal carotid artery territory. In accordance with the literature and as in present case, it would be emphasized that the patients who develop gross neurological abnormalities after blunt trauma to the head or neck, there should be a high index of suspicion of having sustained injury to the carotid arteries.