1. Rare Clinical Onset of Nontraumatic Intracavernous Aneurysm of the Internal Carotid Artery: A Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenge
- Author
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Athanasios Saratziotis, Enzo Emanuelli, Maria Baldovin, Claudia Zanotti, Luca Denaro, and Sara Munari
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,RD1-811 ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Clinical onset ,Asymptomatic ,cavernous sinus syndrome ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Aneurysm ,medicine.artery ,Medicine ,cardiovascular diseases ,Embolization ,RC346-429 ,Sphenoidal sinus ,business.industry ,medicine.disease ,nontraumatic aneurysms ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Cavernous sinus ,cardiovascular system ,Surgery ,Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system ,030101 anatomy & morphology ,Radiology ,Internal carotid artery ,Differential diagnosis ,medicine.symptom ,business ,intracavernous aneurysms ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
While the so-called pseudoaneurysms can result from arterial injury during trans-sphenoidal surgery or after a trauma, spontaneous aneurysms of cavernous–internal carotid artery (CICA) are rare. Symptoms vary and the differential diagnosis with other, more frequent, sellar lesions is difficult. We describe three cases of misdiagnosed CICA spontaneous aneurysm. In two cases the onset was with neuro-ophthalmological manifestations, classifiable as “cavernous sinus syndrome.” The emergency computed tomography scan did not show CICA aneurysm and the diagnosis was made by surgical exploration. The third patient came to our attention with a sudden severe unilateral epistaxis; endonasal surgery revealed also in this case a CICA aneurysm, eroding the wall and protruding into the sphenoidal sinus. When the onset was with a cavernous sinus syndrome, misdiagnosis exposed two patients to potential serious risk of bleeding, while the patient with epistaxis was treated with embolization, using coils and two balloons. Intracavernous nontraumatic aneurysms are both a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, because of their heterogeneous onset and risk of rupture, potentially lethal. Intracavernous aneurysms can be managed with radiological follow-up, if asymptomatic or clinically stable, or can be surgically treated with endovascular or microsurgical techniques.
- Published
- 2020
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