Issue release date: 12.11.2024

 
Turkish Neurosurgery 2016 , Vol 26 , Num 3
Internal Carotid Artery Aneurysms Presenting with Epistaxis - Our Experience and Review of Literature
Kanwaljeet GARG, Hitesh Kumar GURJAR, Pankaj Kumar SINGH, Manmohan SINGH, P Sarat CHANDRA, Bhawani Shankar SHARMA
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, New Delhi, India DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.12598-14.1 AIM: Intracranial internal carotid artery aneurysms are an extremely rare cause of spontaneous epistaxis, with a few documented cases. The management of such cases is challenging due to the relative anatomical inaccessibility of the bleeding point. The aim of the present study was to acquaint the readers with this rare type of aneurysm presenting with epistaxis and to report our experience of treating cases of severe epistaxis due to internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysms.

MATERIAL and METHODS: Data of 4 patients with İCA aneurysms presenting with epistaxis from June 2011 to July 2013 was retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS: The age of patients ranged from 16 to 62 years. Duration of epistaxis ranged from 3 months to 3 years. Two patients had severe epistaxis following transnasal biopsy. Two patients had a history of trauma. Two patients developed hemodynamically instability. All the patients were managed with trapping of the aneurysm. Complete exclusion of aneurysm from circulation was achieved in all the patients.

CONCLUSION: ICA aneurysms can rarely present as life-endangering epistaxis. In patients presenting with a history of craniocerebral trauma, traumatic pseudoaneurysm must be considered as a differential diagnosis. Trapping of the aneurysm is a good option if there is good cross circulation. Keywords : Aneurysm, Pseudoaneurysm, Epistaxis, Trapping, Cross circulation

Corresponding author : Pankaj Kumar Sıngh, drpankajsingh11@gmail.com