Dissection of the middle cerebral artery caused by invasion of malignant glioma presenting as acute onset of hemiplegia.

A 57-year-old, previously healthy man who developed acute onset of hemiplegia is presented. Neuro-imaging studies on admission suggested dissection of the middle cerebral artery producing infarction in the frontotemporal region. In contrast to his stable clinical course, serial neuro-imaging studies disclosed rapid growth of malignant glioma, which was confirmed at surgery. Microscopic examination of the surgical specimen demonstrated invasion of glioma cells into the arterial wall associated with intramural haematoma formation of the middle cerebral artery. This case is the first to document dissection of an intracranial artery caused by invasion of tumour cells.