A rare case report of bilateral internal carotid artery hypoplasia in postpartum female: Clinical spectrum and role of various modalities in diagnosis

Congenital hypoplasia of bilateral internal carotid arteries (ICAs) is an extremely rare anomaly with less than 25 reported cases in literature till date. We present a case of a 30-year-old primigravida, who developed seizures and subsequently loss of consciousness just few minutes after the deliver...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bharat Gupta, Rohit Yadav, Manisha Singhal, Narendra Kadam, Kushal Baboo Gehlot, Rambir Singh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2016-01-01
Series:Brain Circulation
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Online Access:http://www.braincirculation.org/article.asp?issn=2394-8108;year=2016;volume=2;issue=2;spage=99;epage=103;aulast=Gupta
Description
Summary:Congenital hypoplasia of bilateral internal carotid arteries (ICAs) is an extremely rare anomaly with less than 25 reported cases in literature till date. We present a case of a 30-year-old primigravida, who developed seizures and subsequently loss of consciousness just few minutes after the delivery of a healthy male child. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case with bilateral ICA hypoplasia presenting in postpartum female who developed infarct in bilateral frontal region and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). On a postpartum three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) angiography, bilateral ICA hypoplasia was confirmed and the manifestations of infarcts were probably the consequence of altered hemodynamics of pregnancy. In conclusion, a patient in her late pregnancy and postpartum period, having nonspecific cerebral symptoms or having suffered a cerebrovascular accident, should not only be evaluated for pregnancy or puerperium-related complications but also whenever possible a baseline screening with Doppler study of neck vessels and a noncontrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) angiography of neck and cerebral vessels should be performed to rule out congenital anomalies.
ISSN:2455-4626