Nauman S Chaudhry1, Brandon G Gaynor2, Shahrose Hussain3, Paul D Dernbach4, Mohammad A Aziz-Sultan5. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. 2. Department of Neurosurgery, Advocate Health Care, Oak Lawn, IL, USA. 3. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA. 4. Collier Neurologic Specialists, LLC, Naples, FL, USA. 5. Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: sultan@partners.org.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Aneurysms of the external carotid artery represent approximately 2% of cervical carotid aneurysms, with the majority being traumatic pseudoaneurysms. Given the paucity of literature available for guidance, the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of such lesions are completely individualized. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report an 83-year-old woman with an 8-week history of headache in the occipital region, transient episode of gait disturbance, and pulsatile tinnitus on the right. She had no history of trauma, surgery, autoimmune disease, or infection. Physical examination revealed a pulsatile mass tender to palpation in the right occipital scalp. The mass was surgically excised, and histopathological diagnosis of a true aneurysm was made. Postoperatively, the patient's symptoms resolved; however, 1 month after the procedure, she developed occipital neuralgia, which was successfully treated with a percutaneous nerve block. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the second reported case of a true aneurysm of the occipital artery in a patient with no history of trauma. The clinical examination, diagnosis, and treatment are discussed and the literature is reviewed for previously reported cases.
BACKGROUND:Aneurysms of the external carotid artery represent approximately 2% of cervical carotid aneurysms, with the majority being traumatic pseudoaneurysms. Given the paucity of literature available for guidance, the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of such lesions are completely individualized. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report an 83-year-old woman with an 8-week history of headache in the occipital region, transient episode of gait disturbance, and pulsatile tinnitus on the right. She had no history of trauma, surgery, autoimmune disease, or infection. Physical examination revealed a pulsatile mass tender to palpation in the right occipital scalp. The mass was surgically excised, and histopathological diagnosis of a true aneurysm was made. Postoperatively, the patient's symptoms resolved; however, 1 month after the procedure, she developed occipital neuralgia, which was successfully treated with a percutaneous nerve block. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the second reported case of a true aneurysm of the occipital artery in a patient with no history of trauma. The clinical examination, diagnosis, and treatment are discussed and the literature is reviewed for previously reported cases.
Authors: Giulio Illuminati; Marco Cannistrà; Giulia Pizzardi; Rocco Pasqua; Francesca Frezzotti; Francesco G Calio' Journal: Int J Surg Case Rep Date: 2018-02-09
Authors: Georgios P Skandalakis; Stefanos Korfias; Aristotelis V Kalyvas; Christos Anagnostopoulos; Damianos E Sakas Journal: Surg Neurol Int Date: 2017-11-20