ABSTRACT
Carotid artery aneurysms are uncommon, but their clinical signicance has long been recognized. Indeed, surgical treatment was rst employed successfully in 1808 by Sir Astley Cooper,1 a London surgeon, using the technique of proximal ligation, even then widely practiced in dealing with peripheral aneurysms. His patient lived for another 13 years. Since that time, reports of carotid aneurysms have appeared regularly in the literature, Winslow2 collecting some 106 cases up to 1925. However, it was not until 1952 that a reconstructive surgical technique was used to deal with a carotid aneurysm.3 Reconstructions, by maintaining carotid blood ow, reduce the risk of a cerebrovascular accident, oen the sequel of simple ligation, and the various surgical techniques are now fairly well standardized. Approximately 1% of carotid extracranial operations are for aneurysms.4
