Simultaneous onset of anterior and middle cerebral artery dissections with an old vertebral artery dissection

Abstract

Multiple arterial dissections in the anterior circulation with simultaneous onset are extremely rare. We report a patient with infarctions caused by simultaneous arterial dissections in the right anterior cerebral artery and the left middle cerebral artery and discuss the characteristic feature of this vascular disorder. A 53-year-old woman presented with a severe headache and a mild aphasia. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple acute cerebral infarctions in the left temporal and right frontal lobes. The initial angiographic findings revealed arterial dissections of the anterior cerebral, left middle cerebral, and right vertebral arteries. The follow-up angiographic examination found improvement of the stenosis in both the anterior cerebral and middle cerebral arteries. We have concluded that the lesion of the vertebral artery was not in an acute stage, because no interval change was seen during the radiologic evaluation. She underwent conservative therapy, and her symptoms disappeared. Multiple arterial dissections are rare, especially those developing simultaneously in different arteries. This is the first case of multiple arterial dissections of the different arteries in the anterior circulation manifesting cerebral infarction simultaneously.

Keywords: Anterior cerebral artery; cerebral infarction; intracranial arterial dissection; middle cerebral artery; simultaneous onset.