title: Late spontaneous recanalization of acute internal carotid artery occlusion.
abstract: Spontaneous internal carotid recanalization has been infrequently observed, and when it has been reported, it has most commonly occurred early after a stroke. We report a case of a patient with late spontaneous recanalization of the internal carotid artery (ICA) that occurred within 6 months to 1 year after the initial diagnosis of occlusion during the course of a stroke. This event allowed the patient to undergo a successful surgical intervention. A suggestion is made about the mechanism of this phenomenon and an implication about changes in the follow-up strategies of these patients is presented.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Vascular Division, LAIKON Hospital, Athens University Medical School, Greece. chris_klonaris@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Klonaris
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alexandrou
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsargyris
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liasis
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bastounis
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D016894:Endarterectomy, Carotid / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D014654:Vascular Patency / Q000502:physiology