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Basilar artery occlusion in a young patient with Wegener's granulomatosis
J M Savitz1, M A Young, R R Ratan
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
Background And Purpose:
Stroke is an uncommon sequela of Wegener's granulomatosis, resulting primarily from vasculitic infiltration of small to medium-sized vessels. We describe a young patient with Wegener's granulomatosis and basilar artery occlusion.
Case Description:
A 26-year-old man with histopathologically confirmed Wegener's granulomatosis suffered a brain stem stroke 24 hours after open lung biopsy. Angiography revealed midbasilar artery occlusion.
Conclusions:
Patients with Wegener's granulomatosis may experience premature large cerebral vessel occlusion. Putative etiologies in our patient include vasculitis, postoperative hypercoagulability, and/or intraoperative neck positioning leading to embolization.