[A case of simultaneous bilateral carotid occlusion].

Cases of bilateral cartoid occlusion have often been reported in the literature, but most of them were not examples of simultaneous bilateral carotid occlusion. Simultaneous bilateral cartoid occlusion appears to be rare, so we report one such case in this paper. A 68-year-old woman suddenly became unconscious, and was delivered to our hospital by ambulance. On arrival, she was comatose and showed decerebrate rigidity upon pain stimulation. Results of CT scan were normal, but cerebral angiography showed bilateral internal carotid artery occlusion at the carotid bifurcation. The patient was treated with urokinase and osmotic diuretics, but these were not effective and she died on the eleventh day after admission. Autopsy revealed that the bilateral internal carotid artery was occluded by fresh thrombi at the carotid bifurcation. The mitral valve was thickened by fibrous adhesion, and this was thought to indicate mitral stenosis. MRI before onset had shown flow void sign in the bilateral internal carotid artery. From the clinical course, and radiological and autopsy findings, we consider this case to be one of simultaneous bilateral carotid occlusion due to cardiogenic thrombi. Previous cases of bilateral carotid occlusion are reviewed and discussed.