Internal carotid artery aneurysm with prominent calcification: Report of a case

A case of internal carotid artery aneurysm with prominent calcification is presented. A 73-year-old woman came to Okayama University Hospital afflicted to Dental School complaining of dry mouth. The panoramic radiograph and the lateral view showed an oval radiopaque body with a smooth margin at the posterior border of the right mandibular ramus. The CT scan showed a spherically-shaped calcification about 3 cm in diameter with liquid content lying medial to the right parotid gland and posterior to the right maxillary bone. Follicular adenoma of thyroid was also found by the CT examination. But the correlation between the calcified body and the tumor was denied by the laboratory data and the histology of the tumor. When the results of the 3D-CT view, the patient's advanced age and the history of renal disease were considered together, the calcified body was thought to be the calcified aneurysm of the internal carotid artery induced by arteriosclerosis. Though it is quite rare for the image of a calcified aneurysm to appear on the radiograph incidental to routine dental radiographic examination, the possibility of a calcified aneurysm also should be taken into consideration whenever localized calcifications are detected.