Surgical treatment of spontaneous common carotid dissection

Surgical treatment of spontaneous commun carotid dissection.A case report BACKGROUND: Cervical carotid dissection is more common in extracranical vessel: internal carotid artery dissection (ICAD) is typical, vertebral artery dissection is uncommon, common carotid artery dissection (CCAD) is rare and even a more rare cause of ischemic stroke. Cervical artery dissections account up to 20-25% of ischemic strokes in young patients. Isolated and spontaneous common carotid artery dissection without aortic damage is unique. Indeed in the Literature 8 cases were identified. MRI and CTA were the most commonly used for diagnosis and follow-up. CASE REPORT :A 67-year-old came to our observation reporting burning pain in the right latero-cervical region in supine position, irradiated in the temporal region and recurrent episodes of migraine with aura (scintillating scotoma), in the last 3 months. The last Doppler Ultrasound control, performed after the onset of symptoms, showed an highlighted dis- section wall with double lumen at the origin of the bulb and the internal carotid artery on the right. Aortic arch arte- riography confirmed the diagnosis. The patient underwent surgery (longitudinal arteriotomy, removing four miointimal flaps, fastening the distal common carotid artery with 3 Kunlin's points). RESULTS: Any neurological or vascular problems after surgery were noticed. DISCUSSION AND COMMENTS: The pathogenesis can be related to a combination of an intrinsic weakness in the arteri- al wall and an external trigger. The diagnosis of CAD is made with MRI (78.0%), conventional angiography (31.1%), CTA (14.7%), and ultrasound (11.3%). CONCLUSION: No evidence-based guidelines exists for treatment of CCAD. In our patient surgical CEA treatment was the optimal solution.