Right common carotid artery

At a glance

English

Right common carotid artery

Latin (TA2)

Carotis communis dextra

System

Artery

Region

Neck

Side

Single, on the midline

About the right common carotid artery

The right common carotid artery supplies the right side of the head and neck. It begins behind the right sternoclavicular joint, where the brachiocephalic trunk splits into it and the right subclavian artery. Because of this origin it lies almost wholly in the neck, with no real thoracic part, unlike the left artery that comes straight off the aortic arch. Above the sternoclavicular joint, however, the two arteries follow almost identical paths.

From its origin it runs upwards and slightly backwards to the level of the top of the thyroid cartilage, roughly at C4, where it divides into the internal and external carotid arteries. Near the root of the neck the two common carotids are close together, separated only by the trachea; higher up the thyroid gland, larynx and pharynx come between them. Throughout the neck the artery lies in the carotid sheath with the internal jugular vein on its lateral side and the vagus nerve behind, in the groove between the two. On the right the jugular vein draws away from the artery as it descends, and the right recurrent laryngeal nerve hooks obliquely behind the artery's lower end.

At first the vessel is deep, covered by skin, platysma, deep fascia, sternocleidomastoid, sternohyoid, sternothyroid and omohyoid. Higher up it lies in the carotid triangle under the anterior border of sternocleidomastoid, where it is more superficial. It is crossed by the middle and superior thyroid veins and by a sternocleidomastoid twig from the superior thyroid artery, and the superior root of the ansa cervicalis lies on its sheath. Behind are the sympathetic trunk, longus colli and longus capitis and the cervical transverse processes; the inferior thyroid artery passes behind its lower part. Medially lie the trachea, oesophagus and thyroid lobe. The carotid sinus and carotid body sit at the bifurcation. Usually it gives no other branches.

The carotid pulse is felt here, and disease at the bifurcation is a common source of emboli to the brain, treated by endarterectomy or stenting. Its origin occasionally lies above the sternoclavicular joint or straight from the aortic arch, and the bifurcation can sit higher or lower than usual.

Course and supply

Arises from

Arises from the brachiocephalic trunk behind the right sternoclavicular joint.

Ends in

Ends level with the top of the thyroid cartilage, about the level of C4, by dividing into the right internal and external carotid arteries.

Supplies

Carries the arterial supply for the right side of the head and neck: the right half of the brain and eye through the internal carotid, and the face, scalp and neck through the external carotid.