A 28-year-old male without any previous medical history experienced right hemiplegia after a paroxysmal headache during sexual intercourse. He had a drowsy mentality and dysarthria. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 12. The brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) showed a pontine infarction (). The anterior-posterior view of his vertebral angiogram demonstrated an abrupt filling defect at the mid-basilar artery where the proximal margin of the defect was somewhat blurred and the distal was clearly circumscribed. On the lateral view, the abrupt filling defect was located at the anterior wall of the artery and the distal flow was compromised by a luminal stenosis (). These angiographic findings were highly suggestive of an anterior wall dissection of the basilar artery where the false lumen was filled up with mural hematoma.\nSince his neurological status had been deteriorating, a subsequent endovascular procedure was performed. After confirmation of the anatomical relationship between the true and false lumens, a microwire was navigated into the distal portion across the true lumen with extremely delicate handling to avoid incorrect cannulation into the false lumen. At the first trial of microwire navigation, it went into the intramural hematoma, and a clear resistance was noticed. Then, it was slightly pulled back and advanced again following the posterior wall of the diseased segment for a successful navigation. This maneuver confirmed presence of BAD. Then, a stent was deployed fully covering the lesion including some safety margins. After the stenting procedure, the distal flow was completely restored without residual false lumen (). A week later, he was able to walk unassisted. He discharged without any neurological deficits.
This 37-year-old man with hypertension came to the Emergency room with complaints of sudden onset headache and right leg weakness after he stretched and yawned. Neurological examination showed alert mental state, frontal headache, and grade III weakness of the right leg. He had no remarkable past medical history, except nonspecific dizziness and headache since he was 25 years old. Head computed tomogram (CT) revealed scattered SAH at the left frontal convexities. A magnetic resonance (MR) images showed acute infarction at the rostrum of the left corpus callosum and double-lumen signal with high-signal hemorrhage (). Catheter angiogram showed multifocal dissections at the left carotid bulb and right vertebral artery with tiny aneurysm at the left proximal A2 (). His paresis seemed to be attributed to the infarction. After 3 days, dual antiplatelet agents were prescribed to prevent further ischemia and his weakness was gradually improved.\nHe underwent two more CT angiograms during the next months. Final angiogram revealed enlargement of the left A2 aneurysm and progression of focal stenosis along the ACA (). Endovascular intervention was performed under a general anesthesia by placing a 4.5×28 mm Enterprise stent (Cordis Neurovascular, Miami Lakes, FL, USA) through the A1 into the A2 segment, and deploying three Axium detachable helix coils (ev3 Inc., Irvine, CA, USA) into the aneurysm sac. Postoperative control angiogram revealed successful coil packing and flow preservation through the bilateral A2 segments (). Six months postoperatively, angiogram showed neither growth of aneurysms nor recurrence of stenosis (). He has no neurologic deficits and awaits another angiogram 12 months hereafter.