Compared to the ICA, the external carotid artery typically has which feature?

• A. Is larger in diameter
• B. Has branches
• C. Supplies brain predominantly
• D. Is more posterior

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is that the external carotid artery is the main supplier to structures in the face, neck, and scalp and does so by giving off many branches. That branching pattern is the hallmark that differentiates it from the internal carotid artery, which mainly feeds the brain and remains relatively unbranched in the neck (its branches arise after it enters the skull).

So the feature that best fits the external carotid artery is that it has branches. You can think of it as the arterial network that fans out to the face and neck through multiple arteries (facial, lingual, superior thyroid, occipital, maxillary, superficial temporal, and others). In contrast, the internal carotid artery is larger in caliber and focuses on cerebral supply, with only intracranial branches once it passes into the skull.