OBJECTIVE: The carotid web is a compelling potential mechanism of cryptogenic stroke. It is easy for it to escape diagnosis or be misdiagnosed, since it rarely causes hemodynamic stenosis. Currently, there is a lack of consensus on the prevalence, etiology, imaging evaluation, and treatment strategy of carotid artery. We aimed to present the multimodal imaging of carotid web and comprehensively review the characteristics of carotid web.
METHODS: A 38 year-old man with carotid web, who presented with acute left hemispheric syndrome, was not identified by computed tomography angiography and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging in the initial report, but were identified in retrospect and then confirmed by digital subtraction angiography and histopathology. A literature review of carotid web was performed to identify prevalence, nature history, imaging tools, and optimal management of carotid web.
RESULTS: 80 reports including 681 patients with carotid web were identified. The prevalence of symptomatic carotid web was 1.2% in patients with transient ischemic attack/stroke, 6.4% in patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke, 1.1% in patients with large vessel occlusion stroke, and 4.4% in patients who operated on for carotid stenosis. A total of 23.0% patients had bilateral carotid web. In most patients, carotid web was located on the posterior wall (87.3%) of the carotid artery (98.7%). The mean length was 3.3 mm and mean stenosis rate was 20.9%. A total of 31.6% percent patients had thrombus trapped in carotid web and 75.9% patients had large vessel occlusion. Computed tomography angiography and digital subtraction angiography were favorable tools to detect carotid web. There were rare periprocedural complications and no recurrent strokes in carotid revascularization patients.
CONCLUSIONS: carotid web is an under-recognized cause of ischemic stroke. It is easy to be missed or misdiagnosed. Carotid revascularization can effectively prevent recurrent stroke for patients with symptomatic carotid web. Clinicians should strength their learning and understanding of carotid web.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the brain volumetric changes caused by BRAF gene mutation in non-epileptic CFC patients and the influence of the age of epilepsy onset on brain development in 2 cohorts of epileptic CFC patients.
METHODS: We enrolled CFC patients carrying BRAF gene mutations without epilepsy (4 patients) and with epilepsy (16 patients). CFC epileptic patients were divided into two cohorts based on the age of seizure onset: early-age onset (7 children) and late-age onset (9 adolescents). All three cohorts of patients underwent 3D FSPGR T1-weighted imaging to assess supratentorial and infratentorial brain volumes. Moreover, for each compartment, gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volumes were measured. All measurements were compared with those of age-matched controls without neuroimaging abnormalities.
RESULTS: All CFC patients showed supratentorial and infratentorial WM reduction and supratentorial ventricular enlargement (p < 0.01). However, patients with early age of epilepsy onset, compared with the other two cohorts of CFC patients, showed both GM and a more pronounced WM volume reduction (p < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: In non-epileptic CFC children, we demonstrated WM volumetric reduction suggesting a direct effect of BRAF gene mutation on brain development. Nevertheless, in CFC epileptic patients, the age of epilepsy onset may contribute to brain atrophy. Brain atrophy in CFC patients, in part due to the natural history of the disease, may be worsened by epilepsy when it begins in the early ages because of interference with brain growth at that critical age of development.

The central type of Tapia\'s syndrome is an extremely rare presentation, characterized by unilateral paralysis of the vagal and hypoglossal nerves, contralateral hemiparesis, or hemihypesthesia. This report describes a case of a middle-aged patient who developed central Tapia\'s syndrome due to a right vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA). The patient complained about swallowing difficulty and odynophagia. Right vocal cord paralysis, mild tongue deviation to the right side, left hypesthesia, and decreased temperature sensation with left hemiparesis were observed in neurologic exams. A right VADA and compression of the medulla oblongata due to the VADA were diagnosed on magnetic resonance imaging. Endovascular flow diversion of the right VADA was performed. After 1 year, all neurological symptoms and vocal cord paralysis were nearly resolved, but left hypesthesia remained with decreased nociception. We present and discuss how a VADA caused those symptoms and propose endovascular flow diversion as a treatment option.

Isolated middle cerebral artery dissection is uncommon and occurs in patients reporting headaches as the only symptom. This makes intracranial artery dissection challenging to diagnose and treat.Case description: We describe two cases of positional headache caused by isolated middle cerebral artery dissection, confirmed using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. The two patients presented with sudden-onset headache, occurring when lying in the lateral decubitus position. When lying down in the decubitus position ipsilateral to the intracranial artery dissection, the headache aggravated and middle cerebral artery flow velocity increased on transcranial Doppler ultrasonography compared to when in the supine position. Both patients were treated with antiplatelet agents, and the headache completely resolved within 1-2 weeks.
We recommend additional imaging studies evaluating intracranial artery dissection as a cause of positional headache.

BACKGROUND: Radiation therapy can cause cerebral arteriopahty, resulting in ischemic stroke. We document late-delayed cerebral arteriopathy by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) in a middle aged man who had cranial irradiation 19 years earlier.
METHODS: A 45-year-old man was diagnosed with frontal lobe glioma 19 years ago and was treated with radiation after surgical resection. He was admitted to our hospital with an acute cerebral infarction in November 8, 2017. Traditional MRI examination and HR-MRI (sagittal, reconstruction of coronal and axial) were performed at admission. He was treated with prednisone (30 mg/day) and clinical symptoms disappeared after 3 months by telephone follow-up. Our patient complained of dizziness and blurred vision and traditional MRI examination indicated acute ischemic stroke in temporal lobe and occipital lobe and microbleeds. In order to define the exact mechanism of stroke, blood tests, auto-immune screening and thrombophilia were performed and results were normal. Electrocardiography and echocardiography were negative and cardiogenic cerebral embolism was excluded. In cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination, level of albumin and IgG were elevated. HR-MRI showed vessel wall thickening in T1-weighted imaging, narrow lumen in proton density imaging and vessel wall concentric enhancement in contrast-enhanced T1- weighted imaging. Combined with radiotherapy history, the patient was diagnosed with radioactive vasculitis.
CONCLUSIONS: Radiation-induced cerebrovascular damages could be a lasting progress, which we cannot ignore. HR-MRI can provide sensitive and accurate diagnostic assessment of radiation-induced arteritis and may be a useful tool for the screening of causes of cryptogenic stroke.

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Intracranial branch atheromatous disease is an atheromatous pathophysiological process associated with occlusion or stenosis at the orifice of a deep penetrating artery. However, apart from autopsy, atherosclerosis in the penetrating artery has not been confirmed in vivo. In this case, we confirmed that the ostium was located in the parent artery plaque and demonstrated the atherosclerosis of the proximal penetrating artery by using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. HR-MRI can be used to identify the pathological changes in penetrating arteries and provides more reliable basic information for the clinical subclassification and optimal medical treatment of penetrating artery infarction.