The origin and course of the carotid arterial sysem in the superior mediastinum and neck are remarkably constant. Although variations are rare, they can have important implications in certain clinical problems. In this report, a patient underwent free jejunal graft repair of a cervical oesophageal stricture caused by radiotherapy for a post-cricoid carcinoma. The common carotid artery on the side of the surgical approach was found to cross the midline to the other side of the neck, and created difficulties both with the procedure and future management. This has not been previously reported.

We report a case of a 13-year-old boy who inserted a 5 cm nail into his nose. X-ray showed it in the post-nasal space and it was removed through the mouth.

Tumours and pseudotumorous lesions originating from the synovial membrane of the temporomandibular joint are rare. We report a series of six cases of such disorders. There were two cases of synovial chondromatosis, two of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease, one nodular synovitis and one synovial sarcoma. Three patients were female and three were male. Their ages ranged from 36 to 70 years. All had atypical clinical and radiographical presentation. The prevalence, clinical and radiographical findings and pathological features of each disease entity are discussed and a review of the literature is made concerning all tumours and pseudotumours arising from the temporomandibular joint.