Fibromuscular Dysplasia of the Carotid Artery: Diagnosis with Duplex Ultrasonography

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Wei Zhou ◽  
Ruth L. Bush ◽  
Peter H. Lin ◽  
Megan D. Hodge ◽  
Deborah D. Felkai ◽  
...  

Purpose The diagnosis of carotid artery fibromuscular dysplasia is usually made with conventional angiography performed to evaluate a suspected carotid stenosis. The ultrasound findings with fibromuscular dysplasia have not been well described. This study was performed to assess the characteristics of carotid artery fibromuscular dysplasia with duplex ultrasonography. Methods The hospital records for all patients who had carotid duplex ultrasonography were reviewed from January 2000 to October 2003. Patients with findings suspicious for fibromuscular dysplasia formed the basis of this study. The patient demographics, their presenting symptoms, and ultrasound findings were analyzed. Results Carotid duplex studies were performed on 9157 patients during the study period. The presumptive diagnosis of fibromuscular dysplasia was made in 13 female patients (1.2%), with a mean age of 67 ± 10 years (range, 52-79 years). Patients were referred for asymptomatic carotid bruits ( n = 10, 77%) or transient ischemic attack ( n = 3, 23%). Both mid and distal internal carotid artery involvement were seen in five patients (38%), whereas eight patients (62%) had disease isolated to the distal internal carotid artery. Bilateral carotid artery involvement occurred in eight patients (62%). A consistent finding in all patients was multiple areas of alternating focal thickening with thin, dilated arterial walls. Other sonographic findings included velocity increases (mean, 181 cm/sec; range, 135-318 cm/sec), color flow disturbance, and scarcity of plaque in the suspected arterial segment. Magnetic resonance angiography or carotid angiography was performed on seven (54%) patients, confirming the ultrasound diagnoses. One symptomatic patient was successfully treated with open graduated endoluminal dilatation. One patient with asymptomatic carotid bruit underwent carotid stent placement for rapid progression of the disease. No disease progression was seen on follow-up duplex examination in the remaining group, and no patient became symptomatic. Conclusions Fibromuscular dysplasia should be suspected in female patients with high-grade mid to distal carotid artery stenosis without significant atherosclerotic disease. This study demonstrates the usefulness of duplex ultrasound as both a screening test and diagnostic examination for carotid artery fibromuscular dysplasia. Follow-up is warranted in these patients.

Neurosurgery ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph P. Wells ◽  
Robert R. Smith

Abstract The natural course of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) of the internal carotid artery (ICA). a stenosing angiopathy associated with cerebrovascular insufficiency, has not been described. A search of medical records located 16 female patients with angiographically demonstrated FMD of the ICA. The identical twin of 1 patient was included in the registry on the basis of noninvasive studies consistent with FMD of the ICA. The mean age at diagnosis was 58 years. Follow-up examinations were performed an average of 3.8 years after diagnosis (range, 1 to 9 years); the evaluation included clinical, angiographic, and Doppler studies. Fifteen patients showed no evidence of progression of FMD, whereas 2 patients with coincident atherosclerotic disease had suffered strokes. One patient had undergone surgical dilatation of the ICA. 3 had received oral anticoagulants, and 13 had received either aspirin or no specific therapy. In light of the apparently benign clinical course of uncomplicated FMD of the ICA, it is concluded that dilatation is rarely warranted.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Kubaska ◽  
Roy K. Greenberg ◽  
Daniel Clair ◽  
Gregory Barber ◽  
Sunita D. Srivastava ◽  
...  

Purpose: To report several cases illustrating the feasibility and mid-term efficacy of deploying a self-expanding stent-graft to treat traumatic ruptures, pseudoaneurysms, and a spontaneous dissection of the internal carotid artery (ICA). Case Reports: One patient suffered a stab wound and another developed a large pseudoaneurysm years after a gunshot to the neck. The third patient presented with a spontaneous rupture in the setting of fibromuscular dysplasia, and the final patient developed a pseudoaneurysm following carotid endarterectomy in an irradiated neck. All 4 patients were successfully treated with Wallgrafts deployed in the ICA using either an open carotid (first 3 cases) or percutaneous approach (fourth patient). There were no adverse neurological events. During a mean 16-month follow-up (range 6–24), duplex ultrasound and CT scanning found no evidence of restenosis, occlusion, or persistent perfusion of the pseudoaneurysm, which was noted to decrease in all cases. Conclusions: The thin-walled fabric of the Wallgraft appears capable of completely excluding the pseudoaneurysm, resulting in decreased aneurysm size overtime.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 636-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameer A. Ansari ◽  
B. Gregory Thompson ◽  
Joseph J. Gemmete ◽  
Dheeraj Gandhi

Abstract OBJECTIVE Endovascular stent reconstruction is the primary intervention for cervical and intracranial dissections in symptomatic patients refractory to medical management. Advancement of traditional balloon-expanding stents into the distal internal carotid artery and vertebrobasilar artery can be technically challenging and potentially traumatic. METHODS On retrospective review, nine patients at our institution with distal cervical and/or intracranial dissections were alternatively treated with the self-expanding, dedicated intracranial Neuroform stent. Three patients with dissecting aneurysms also required stent-assisted coil embolization. Seven patients were followed with imaging and clinical assessment for a mean of 16.3 months. RESULTS All patients (five men, four women; mean age, 50 yr) were symptomatic. Spontaneous (n = 4) or traumatic and/or iatrogenic (n = 5) dissections involved the internal carotid artery (n = 2), vertebral artery (n = 5), and vertebrobasilar artery (n = 2). Indications for treatment included transient ischemic attacks, impending infarcts, antiplatelet failure, enlarging or ruptured dissecting aneurysms, intracranial dissections, or subarachnoid hemorrhages. Dissections were treated with single (n = 4), overlapping (n = 2), or tandem (n = 3) Neuroform stents. Dissection-related mean stenosis improved from 76% preprocedure to 23% postprocedure, with further reduction to 8% at follow-up imaging. Stent-assisted coil embolization of large dissecting aneurysms (n = 3) resulted in retreatment of a neck remnant (n = 1). Small dissecting aneurysms (n = 5) underwent spontaneous stent-induced thrombosis. There were no procedure-related complications. Mortality was limited to the presenting sequelae of vertebrobasilar artery thrombosis (n = 2). Suboptimal technical outcomes were related to delayed in-stent stenosis (n = 2). All surviving patients (n = 7) reported clinical improvement or resolution of symptoms. CONCLUSION The Neuroform stent seems to be safe and technically effective in the endovascular management of distal cervical and intracranial dissections, with favorable clinical outcomes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 615-618
Author(s):  
Slobodan Tanaskovic ◽  
Srdjan Babic ◽  
Nikola Aleksic ◽  
Predrag Matic ◽  
Predrag Gajin ◽  
...  

Introduction. Although intervention in patients with symptomatic carotid disease is generally accepted as beneficial, the management of asymptomatic disease is still controversial. We wanted to introduce and discuss treatment options in a patient with asymptomatic carotid stenosis and high embolic potential lesions of common and internal carotid artery detected by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Case Outline. A 78-year-old female patient was admitted to our institution for diagnostics and surgical treatment of asymptomatic high-grade carotid stenosis. Upon admission, color duplex ultrasonography of the carotid arteries revealed the left common carotid artery (CCA) stenosis of 50% and the ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis of 60%, while the right CCA was narrowed by 60% and the ipsilateral ICA by 80%. Because of the left subclavian artery (LSA) occlusion, also described by ultrasonography, MDCT angiography was performed to assess arterial morphology for possible angioplasty. In addition to LSA occlusion, MDCT angiography surprisingly revealed significant left CCA (>80%) and ICA (>70%) narrowing by ulcerated plaques with high embolic potential. Surgical treatment of the left CCA and ICA was indicated and Dacron? tubular graft interposition was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged from the Institute on the third postoperative day. After the six-month follow-up the patient was doing well with well-preserved graft patency. Conclusion. Although color duplex ultrasonography is reliable and safe imaging modality in carotid stenosis diagnosis, MDCT angiography plays a significant role in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis since plaques with high embolic potential could be detected, which, if left untreated, could have severe neurological ischemic consequences.


Author(s):  
Spyros Papadoulas ◽  
Konstantinos Moulakakis ◽  
Natasa Kouri ◽  
Petros Zampakis ◽  
Stavros K. Kakkos

AbstractWe present a patient suffering from a stroke with a free-floating thrombus extending up to the distal internal carotid artery. The thrombus was totally resolved after a 2-week anticoagulation regimen without leaving behind any severe residual stenosis in the carotid bulb. The optimal treatment of this rare condition remains uncertain. We report some important treatment strategies that have been used in the literature, emphasizing the anticoagulation as the mainstay of therapy. Immediate surgical and interventional manipulations carry the risk of thrombus dislodgement and embolization and should be considered if there are recurrent symptoms despite medical management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel-Alexandre Bisson ◽  
Peter Dirks ◽  
Afsaneh Amirabadi ◽  
Manohar M. Shroff ◽  
Timo Krings ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVEThere are little data in the literature on the characteristics and natural history of unruptured intracranial aneurysms in children. The authors analyzed their experience with unruptured intracranial aneurysms in the pediatric population at their tertiary care pediatric institution over the last 18 years. The first objective was to assess the imaging characteristics and natural history of these aneurysms in order to help guide management strategies in the future. A second objective was to evaluate the frequency of an underlying condition when an incidental intracranial aneurysm was detected in a child.METHODSThe authors conducted a Research Ethics Board–approved retrospective review of incidental intracranial aneurysms in patients younger than 18 years of age who had been treated at their institution in the period from 1998 to 2016. Clinical (age, sex, syndrome) and radiological (aneurysm location, type, size, thrombus, mass effect) data were recorded. Follow-up imaging was assessed for temporal changes.RESULTSSixty intracranial aneurysms occurred in 51 patients (36 males, 15 females) with a mean age of 10.5 ± 0.5 years (range 9 months–17 years). Forty-five patients (88.2%) had a single aneurysm, while 2 and 3 aneurysms were found in 3 patients each (5.8%). Syndromic association was found in 22 patients (43.1%), most frequently sickle cell disease (10/22 [45.5%]). Aneurysms were saccular in 43 cases (71.7%; mean size 5.0 ± 5.7 mm) and fusiform in the remaining 17 (28.3%; mean size 6.5 ± 2.7 mm). Thirty-one aneurysms (51.7%) arose from the internal carotid artery (right/left 1.4), most commonly in the cavernous segment (10/31 [32.3%]). Mean size change over the entire follow-up of 109 patient-years was a decrease of 0.6 ± 4.2 mm (range −30.0 to +4.0 mm, rate −0.12 ± 9.9 mm/yr). Interval growth (2.0 ± 1.0 mm) was seen in 8 aneurysms (13.3%; 4 saccular, 4 fusiform). An interval decrease in size (8.3 ± 10.7 mm) was seen in 6 aneurysms (10%). There was an inverse relationship between aneurysm size and growth rate (r = −0.82, p < 0.00001). One aneurysm was treated endovascularly with internal carotid artery sacrifice.CONCLUSIONSUnruptured pediatric intracranial aneurysms are most frequently single but can occur in multiples in a syndromic setting. None of the cases from the study period showed clinical or imaging signs of rupture. Growth over time, although unusual and slow, can occur in a proportion of these patients, who should be identified for short-term imaging surveillance.


Author(s):  
Madeline B. Karsten ◽  
R. Michael Scott

Fusiform dilatation of the internal carotid artery (FDCA) is a known postoperative imaging finding after craniopharyngioma resection. FDCA has also been reported following surgery for other lesions in the suprasellar region in pediatric patients and is thought to be due to trauma to the internal carotid artery (ICA) wall during tumor dissection. Here, the authors report 2 cases of pediatric patients with FDCA. Case 1 is a patient in whom FDCA was visualized on follow-up scans after total resection of a craniopharyngioma; this patient’s subsequent scans and neurological status remained stable throughout a 20-year follow-up period. In case 2, FDCA appeared after resection and fenestration of a giant arachnoid cyst in a 3-year-old child, with 6 years of stable subsequent follow-up, an imaging finding that to the authors’ knowledge has not previously been reported following surgery for arachnoid cyst fenestration. These cases demonstrate that surgery involving dissection adjacent to the carotid artery wall in pediatric patients may lead to the development of FDCA. On very long-term follow-up, this imaging finding rarely changes and virtually all patients remain asymptomatic. Neurointerventional treatment of FDCA in the absence of symptoms or significant late enlargement of the arterial ectasia does not appear to be indicated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document