A case of temporary occlusion of donor artery after secondary generalized seizure in a patient with superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass

BACKGROUND: To prevent stroke recurrence, a superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA–MCA) bypass for atherosclerotic cerebrovascular occlusive disease is performed. Post stroke epilepsy is known as serious sequelae of stroke. Herein, we present a case of a 60-year-old man who underwent STA–MCA bypass for the prevention of stroke recurrence; however, the donor artery was deemed to be temporally occluded secondary to generalized seizure. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 60-year-old man was referred to our hospital with a diagnosis of the left cervical internal carotid artery occlusion presenting with mild aphasia and right hemiparesis. He underwent STA–MCA bypass to prevent the recurrence of stroke 1 month after the onset of symptoms. On postoperative day 7, patency of the donor artery was confirmed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and no complications were noted. However, on postoperative day 14, he presented with a secondary generalized seizure. MRI was immediately performed and the donor artery was not patent with no new lesions. Several hours thereafter, the blood flow of the donor artery was confirmed using pulse Doppler; however, during mouth opening, the flow of the donor artery decreased. Computed tomography-angiography confirmed donor artery patency. An encephalogram was conducted and revealed a focal epilepsy which was compatible with stroke on MRI. CONCLUSION: Post stroke epilepsy caused an unintended and forced mouth opening which led to a temporary occlusion of the donor artery after STA–MCA bypass. Thus, this complication should be recognized, and seizures should be prevented through the administration of prophylactic anti-seizure medication based on risk stratification assessment of post stroke epilepsy.