An off-label use of flow-diverter stent as a successful treatment of a postoperative middle cerebral artery pseudoaneurysm

Abstract

A pseudoaneurysm or false aneurysm is the result of the disruption of the vessel wall and the formation of a hematoma in communication with the vascular lumen, restrained by perivascular connective tissue. Intracranial pseudoaneurysms represent a rare entity mainly because of trauma, iatrogenic causes, infectious disease, radiation exposure, connective tissue disease and sometimes spontaneous occurrence. We present a 35-year-old female patient with a history of multiple low-grade glioma debulking surgeries. During the last procedure, laceration of the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) occurred with diffuse subarachnoid hemorrhage. Imaging studies showed the formation of a pseudoaneurysm of the left MCA which was successfully treated with the implantation of a flow diverter across the lesion neck and excellent mid- to long- term results. Flow diverter implantation may be a promising technique for the therapeutic management of cerebral pseudoaneurysms.

Keywords

• Intracranial pseudoaneurysms
• Flow diverter stent
• Embolization
• Middle cerebral artery
• Iatrogenic pseudoaneurysms
• Interventional neuroradiology