A 60-year-old woman who developed intermittent diplopia underwent MRI scan revealing a tentorial meningioma as well as aneurysms of the posterior communication artery, right vertebral artery, and peripheral superior cerebellar artery. The tentorial meningioma tumor was located in the posterior aspect of the cerebellopontine angle and causing compression of the brainstem along the course of the 4th cranial nerve, and the complex, partially thrombosed dissecting aneurysm of the SCA was situated just proximal to the entry of the 4th nerve into the free edge of the tentorium. Angiography revealed a partially thrombosed wide-necked aneurysm not amenable to endovascular intervention. Microsurgical clipping and simultaneous tumor removal were recommended.\nA combined subtemporal, presigmoidal approach was performed. A wide bone removal of the middle cranial fossa was necessary to reach the tentorial incisura allowing exposure of the tumor. Due to the associated brainstem compression from the tumor, the meningioma was debulked first, and then the aneurysm was addressed. Interestingly, on reaching the SCA there was obvious hemosiderin staining of the arachnoid surrounding the aneurysm dome, indicating a previous rupture. During microsurgical dissection, it was confirmed that this aneurysm was thick-walled and partially thrombosed [Figure and ]. The aneurysm was reconstructed with a single clip placed well up on the aneurysm dome to avoid compromise of the parent artery. Intra-operative angiogram demonstrated complete obliteration of the aneurysm with normal flow through the SCA and distal branches. Post-operatively, apart from transient hyponatremia and hyperglycemia, the patient did well without complication.
A 54-year-old man with chronic hypertension visited ED of a local hospital following the sudden onset of posterior neck pain and left-sided homonymous hemianopsia. A brain CT revealed a subcortical hemorrhage in the right occipital lobe []. He was diagnosed with a hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage and admitted for several days to receive conservative management before he was discharged home. However, 2 weeks later, he experienced dizziness and visited our ED. A brain MRI (diffusion-weighted images) revealed a high-intensity signal in the left cerebellar hemisphere which corresponded to the area perfused by the left PICA []. The left PICA was poorly depicted on the brain MRA [] and a presumptive diagnosis of atherosclerotic PICA occlusion was made. However, CTA of the extracranial vessels obtained the next day revealed a tapered occlusion of the left VA inside the transverse foramen []. In addition, a thin-slice contrast-enhanced axial image at the C5 level showed a double-lumen sign [], establishing the diagnosis of an extracranial VA dissection. In retrospect, the initial hemorrhage in the right occipital lobe was not an arterial bleeding but was a hemorrhagic infarction secondary to a temporary embolic occlusion of the left posterior cerebral artery. Anticoagulation with warfarin was initiated, and the patient has not experienced a recurrent infarction for over a year.