Kissing carotids: An unusual cause of dysphagia in a healthy child

A 12‐year‐old previously healthy girl presented with insidious onset, slowly progressive difficulty in swallowing, which was more with solids. There was no history of pain on deglutition, chest pain, foreign body sensation in throat, change in voice, heartburn, and choking or coughing during swallowing. Her systemic examination was also noncontributory. Examination of the throat revealed a smooth, pulsatile bulge on the posterior wall of oropharynx. Contrast‐enhanced computed tomography revealed ectatic bilateral common carotid arteries in the retropharyngeal region near the midline with a minimum distance of 1.0 mm in between them from C4 to C6 vertebral level [Figure 1a and b]. Bilateral internal jugular veins also appeared slightly medially displaced. Thus, a diagnosis of “kissing carotids” was made.