title: Cavernous internal carotid artery aneurysm after radiotherapy presenting with external ophthalmoplegia.
abstract: Cranial radiotherapy could cause several types of vasculopathies, which include atherosclerotic occlusive diseases, moyamoya disease, and aneurysm formation. To our knowledge, radiation-induced aneurysms of the internal carotid artery (ICA) are extremely rare. Here, we report a 68-year-old woman who presented with external ophthalmoplegia caused by radiotherapy after the transsphenoidal surgery for metastastic tumor of the clivus region, and the angiography demonstrated a giant aneurysm of the cavernous ICA. After the ICA ligation, the patient recovered well without brain ischemia with a 6-month-long follow-up. The present case is extremely rare with external opthalmoplegia caused by the giant cavernous ICA aneurysm, and the radiotherapy after transsphenoidal surgery might have been critical in the formation of the aneurysm.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Neurosurgery, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai; †Department of Neurosurgery, Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang, Qing Zhou, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Liemei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Yongming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Xunhui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000532:radiotherapy; D000368:Aged; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000601:surgery; D020216:Carotid-Cavernous Sinus Fistula / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D002426:Cavernous Sinus / Q000473:pathology; D003388:Cranial Fossa, Posterior / Q000528:radiation effects; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008026:Ligation; D009886:Ophthalmoplegia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D019292:Skull Base Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary