Traumatic carotid artery stenosis with cerebral infarct

: After an accident causing a wound beside the larynx a 17-year-old male was diagnosed as having a cerebral haemorrhagic contusion. He was treated conservatively, when six weeks later uncertainty about the diagnosis prompted angiography of the common carotid arteries. The diagnosis had to be revised: a traumatic occlusion of the carotid artery. The patient's favourable recovery was credited to development of a good collateral circulation to which his relative youth contributed. Traumatic occlusion of the carotid artery should be considered when neurological disorders are apparent but the patient is conscious, especially when there is a symptom-free interval.