The contralateral diseased but asymptomatic carotid artery: to operate or not? An update.

Bilaterally diseased carotid arteries were demonstrated in 147 patients in a personal series of 535 carotid reconstructions. A general policy of operating only on symptomatic patients was followed. Although stenotic and ulcerated plaques were known to be present in the contralateral artery, they were not repaired unless new symptoms occurred.

Benign nasal polyps causing bone destruction in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses.

Benign nasal polyposis, when extensive, can cause bone displacement and destruction within the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Consequently it may be difficult to distinguish this entity from a malignant neoplasm.

Rare carotid-vertebrobasilar anastomoses with notes on the differentiation between proatlantal and hypoglossal arteries.

Two cases of persistent anastomoses between the carotid and vertebrobasilar systems which have only once been previously reported are described. These are a proatlantal intersegmental artery which arises from the external carotid artery and a primitive trigeminal artery with direct anastomosis to the superior cerebellar artery. Angiographic criteria for differentiation of the proatlantal and more common hypoglossal arteries, as well as the rare persistent cervical intersegmental artery are also presented.