Basilar artery occlusion in a young patient with Wegener's granulomatosis.
OBJECTIVE
Stroke is an uncommon sequela of Wegener's granulomatosis, resulting primarily from vasculitic infiltration of small to medium-sized vessels. We describe a young patient with Wegener's granulomatosis and basilar artery occlusion.


METHODS
A 26-year-old man with histopathologically confirmed Wegener's granulomatosis suffered a brain stem stroke 24 hours after open lung biopsy. Angiography revealed midbasilar artery occlusion.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with Wegener's granulomatosis may experience premature large cerebral vessel occlusion. Putative etiologies in our patient include vasculitis, postoperative hypercoagulability, and/or intraoperative neck positioning leading to embolization.
Savitz
J M
JM
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
Young
M A
MA
Ratan
R R
RR
D000328:Adult; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D001488:Basilar Artery; D001706:Biopsy; D001933:Brain Stem; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D014890:Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging