Brainstem ischemic stroke without permanent sequelae during the course of spontaneous internal carotid artery dissection – case report

BACKGROUND: Internal carotid artery dissection (ICAD) is a frequent cause of a stroke in young patients. Risk factors which can lead to dissection include neck injury and diseases of the inner wall of the artery. Common symptoms in ICAD are cervical pain and headache, Horner’s syndrome, paralysis of the cranial nerves and subsequently cerebral and retinal ischemia. MR angiography in TOF technique and brain MRI in T1- and T2-weighted images, FLAIR and DWI sequences are the method of choice in patients with ICAD but contrast-enhanced multislice computed tomography remains the fastest and the most available diagnostic method. CASE REPORT: A 39-year old woman, previously healthy, presented to the Hospital Emergency Department because of increasing neck pain on the right side and difficulty in swallowing. The neurological examination revealed: drooping of the right eyelid with narrow palpebral fissure, dysarthria, anisocoria (narrower pupil on the right side), unilateral hypoesthesia on the left side, weak palatal and pharyngeal reflexes on both sides, paresthesia within the left half of the body. Seven days before, the patient felt a sudden, severe neck pain radiating to the temporal apophysis. CT angiography revealed a defect in contrast filling within the left internal carotid artery and right vertebral artery. MRI of the head with MR angiography showed internal carotid artery dissection on the left side and dissection of the right vertebral artery and no ischemic changes within the brain. CONCLUSIONS: CT and MR angiography are methods characterized by high sensitivity in detecting dissection of the cervical arteries.