Carotid Arteries in the Dog: Structure and Histophysiology

The common carotid arteries (CCA) of dog ended near a transverse plane passing throughout the hyoid bone body originating on the both sides the right and left external carotids (ECA) as well as the right and left internal carotid arteries (ICA). The ICA irrigated the brain, contributing to formation of the arterial circulation at the base of the brain (Puchades-Orts et al., 1976), while the ECA was considered the continuation of the CCA on the same side of the face in which it originated several branches related to the facial vasculature (Evans, 1993). Moreover, regarding to the histoarchitecture of some human elastic arteries including the CCA some studies had demonstrated variability in the thickness of the adventitial layer as well as local differences in the thickness of the complex formed by the intimal plus medial layers, mainly in regions subjected to small but expressive homodynamic stress (Willekes et al., 1999).