title: Extracranial aneurysms of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery. Literature review and report of a new case.
abstract: Aneurysms arising from the extracranial portion of the posterior-inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) are considered extremely rare. To date, only ten cases have been reported in the literature. The authors report a case of a 29 year-old male patient admitted comatose in Hunt-Hess grade IV because of an subarachnoid haemorrhage predominantly involving the left cranio-vertebral junction up to C2 rather than the posterior fossa and the fourth ventricle. Angiography showed an extracranial aneurysm at left vertebral artery-PICA junction a few millimetres superior to the dural entry point of the vertebral artery (VA). A left extreme-lateral approach was performed and the aneurysm was successfully clipped. On first year follow-up the patient had completely recovered with no neurological deficits. This paper analyzes the literature review about these rare aneurysms and the technical notes regarding the cranio-vertebral junction approach to these lesions. Factors affecting the neurological outcome of these aneurysms are also reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciappetta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luzzi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Blasi
authors.forename: P I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: D'Urso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001368:Axis, Cervical Vertebra; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000098:blood supply; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*