Dissecting Aneurysm at the Proximal Segment of the Anterior Cerebral Artery Associated with Infraoptic Course Anterior Cerebral Artery

Abstract

A 48-year-old man presented a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a rupture of a dissecting aneurysm at the proximal segment (A1 segment) of the right anterior cerebral artery (ACA). He also had an anomalous artery named infraoptic course ACA and an agenesis of the contralateral ACA A1 segment. Balloon occlusion test at the bifurcation of the right internal carotid artery demonstrated that the distal segments of the bilateral ACAs were perfused through the infraoptic course ACA. Therefore, we surgically trapped the A1 segment including the aneurysm. The patient got discharged without any neurological deficit. Natural course of ACA dissecting aneurysms is unclear because of rarity of the disease and treatment strategy is still controversial. Most of the dissecting aneurysms in the A1 segment are surgically treated, because they often present with massive hemorrhage and poor prognosis. In the present case, the contralateral A1 segment was absent but trapping of the dissecting aneurysm could be achieved without vascular reconstruction (e.g., bypass surgery) because of the presence of the infraoptic course ACA.