Ischemic Stroke Associated With Activated Protein C Resistance and Aortic Valvular Papillary Fibroelastoma

We report an unusual case of a pontine ischemic stroke associated with activated protein C resistance as well as an embolic source in the form of a cardiac valvular lesion. A 31-year-old man had a sudden onset of right hemiparesis and a severe dysarthria. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a nonhemorrhagic pontine lesion with essentially negative craniocervical MR angiography. His transesophageal echocardiogram showed a papillary fibroelastoma on the aortic valve. His laboratory studies showed significant activated protein C resistance at 1.7 (normal, >2.1). Other laboratory parameters, including sedimentation rate, were unremarkable. This case suggests that activated protein C resistance may serve as a cofactor in some cases of ischemic stroke, particularly stroke associated with emboligenic cardiac lesions.