9. Internal carotid arteriogram, lateral projection
The internal carotid artery begins at the upper border of the thryoid cartilage
and ascends the neck in the carotid sheath with the internal jugular vein and
the vagus nerve (the cervical segment of the artery). The following part
of the artery is called the petrous segment, since it enters the cranial
cavity by passing forward through the carotid canal in the petrous part of the
temporal bone. The final, or cavernous segment of the artery passes upward
and then runs forward in the cavernous sinus. At the anterior end of sinus the
artery bends upward through the roof, and medial to the anterior clinoid process.
The artery then inclines backard, lateral to the optic chiasm, to terminate
by dividing into the anterior and middle cerebral arteries.
