Etiology & Treatment Modalities of Occipital Artery Aneurysms.

Etiology & Treatment Modalities of Occipital Artery Aneurysms.

World Neurosurg. 2017 Mar 08;:

Authors: Chaudhry NS, Gaynor BG, Hussain S, Dernbach PD, Aziz-Sultan MA

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Aneurysms of the external carotid artery represent approximately 2% of cervical carotid aneurysms with the majority being traumatic pseudoaneurysms. The diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of such lesions are completely individualized as there is a paucity of literature available for guidance.
CASE DESCRIPTION: We report the case of an 83-year-old woman with an 8-week history of headache in the occipital region, transient episode of gait disturbance, and pulsatile tinnitus on the right. There was no history of trauma, surgery, autoimmune disease, or infection. On physical exam, there was a pulsatile mass tender to palpation in the right occipital scalp. The mass was surgically excised and histopathological diagnosis of a true aneurysm was made. Postoperatively, the patient's symptoms resolved; however, one month after the procedure, she developed occipital neuralgia which was successfully treated with a percutaneous nerve block.
CONCLUSIONS: We present, to the best of our knowledge, the second case of a true aneurysm of the occipital artery in a patient without history of trauma. The clinical exam, diagnosis, and treatment are discussed and the literature is reviewed for previously reported cases.

PMID: 28284967 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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