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Case Reports
. 2025 Jul 8;17(7):e87537.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.87537. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Post-Radiotherapy Carotid Stenosis in a Patient With Head and Neck Cancer: A Case Report

Imran Ali Reshi  1 , Irshad Rashid  1 , Kirtan Soni  2 , Linda A Mbah  3 , Preeti Yadav  4 , Jeffrin John Varghese  5 , Mansi Singh  6
Affiliations
Case Reports

Post-Radiotherapy Carotid Stenosis in a Patient With Head and Neck Cancer: A Case Report

Imran Ali Reshi et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

This case report presents a 68-year-old female with a complex medical history including metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary site, treated with excisional biopsy and definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT), and surgically treated stage 0 cervical cancer. The clinical course includes comprehensive treatment for squamous cell carcinoma involving the lymph nodes of the head and neck region, including chemoradiotherapy and concurrent cisplatin chemotherapy. The patient displayed the presentation of severe proximal right internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis, picked up during a carotid duplex examination. Diagnostic findings reveal new severe proximal right ICA stenosis compared to prior assessments. This case highlights the importance of continued monitoring of long-term vascular complications post-management of patients who have undergone chemoradiation.

Keywords: cervix cancer; chemoradiotherapy; internal carotid artery stenosis; metastatic squamous cell carcinoma; vascular complications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Informed consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. (a-c) Axial IMRT views showing dose distributions to PTVs as part of a head and neck radiation treatment plan. Red arrows show the gross disease. PTV1 (orange/yellow). White arrows show at-risk areas PTV2 and PTV3 (green)
IMRT: intensity-modulated radiotherapy, PTV: planning target volumes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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