title: Bilateral extensive cerebral infarction and mesenteric ischemia associated with segmental arterial mediolysis in two young women.
abstract: Segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM) is a rare non-atherosclerotic non-inflammatory vascular disease that affects mainly muscular arteries of the splanchnic and cerebral territories. Reported herein are two cases of SAM in young women with fatal outcome. One of the patients had an atypical form of the disease, which primarily affected small intestinal submucosal and subserosal arteries, and resulted in acute mesenteric ischemia. The other had bilateral brain infarction with SAM of internal carotid arteries (ICA). Pathological examination of both cases did not reveal the cause of blood flow disturbance: large mesenteric branches of the former and ICA of the latter were free of either dissection or thrombosis; in addition, small intestinal arteries of the first patient did not show signs of vasculitis. These findings suggest that unusual pathways of arterial occlusion and dissection may occur in the context of SAM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of São Paulo Medical School, Brazil. moniquebasso@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Monique Camila
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.forename: Patrícia Carrasco
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: Ary
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Azevedo Marques
authors.forename: Guilherme Leme
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Marília
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Elboux Guimarães Brescia
authors.forename: Cynthia Resende
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Cleva
authors.forename: Paulo Hilario Nascimento
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Saldiva
authors.forename: Thais
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mauad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D001167:Arteritis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000473:pathology*; D008643:Mesentery / Q000098:blood supply*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000473:pathology