- Department of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease, University of Tsukuba Hospital,
- Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba,
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tsukuba Hospital,
- Division of Stroke Prevention and Treatment, Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Correspondence Address:
Hisayuki Hosoo, Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
DOI:10.25259/SNI_1082_2022
Copyright: © 2023 Surgical Neurology International This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, transform, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.How to cite this article: Junzo Nakao1, Hisayuki Hosoo2, Ai Muroi2, Toshihide Takahashi3, Aiki Marushima2, Eiichi Ishikawa2, Yuji Matsumaru4. Traumatic dissection of the anterior cerebral artery secondary to a rugby related impact: A case report with emphasis on the usefulness of T1-VISTA. 03-Feb-2023;14:43
How to cite this URL: Junzo Nakao1, Hisayuki Hosoo2, Ai Muroi2, Toshihide Takahashi3, Aiki Marushima2, Eiichi Ishikawa2, Yuji Matsumaru4. Traumatic dissection of the anterior cerebral artery secondary to a rugby related impact: A case report with emphasis on the usefulness of T1-VISTA. 03-Feb-2023;14:43. Available from: https://surgicalneurologyint.com/surgicalint-articles/12136/
Abstract
Background: Cerebrovascular injuries (CVIs) are not usually considered in the differential diagnosis of sport-related head injuries (SRHIs). We encountered a rugby player with traumatic dissection of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) after impact on the forehead. Head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with T1-volume isotropic turbo spin-echo acquisition (VISTA) was used to diagnose the patient.
Case Description: The patient was a 21-year-old man. During a rugby tackle, his forehead collided with the forehead of an opponent. He did not have a headache or disturbance of consciousness immediately after the SRHI. On the 2nd day of illness, he had transient weakness of the left lower limb several times. On the 3rd day of illness, he visited our hospital. MRI revealed occlusion of the right ACA and acute infarction of the right medial frontal lobe. T1-VISTA revealed intramural hematoma of the occluded artery. He was diagnosed with acute cerebral infarction due to dissection of the ACA and was followed up for vascular changes with T1-VISTA. The vessel had recanalized and the size of the intramural hematoma had decreased 1 and 3 months after the SRHI, respectively.
Conclusion: Accurate detection of morphological changes in cerebral arteries is important for the diagnosis of intracranial vascular injuries. When paralysis or sensory deficits occur after SRHIs, it is difficult to differentiate between concussion from CVI. Athletes with red-flag symptoms after SRHIs should not merely be suspected to have concussion; they should be considered for imaging studies.
Keywords: Concussion, Rugby, Sport-related head injury, T1-volume isotropic turbo spin-echo acquisition, Traumatic anterior cerebral artery dissection
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, education and awareness regarding the management of sport-related head injuries (SRHIs), especially concussions, have been emphasized and promoted.[
We present a rugby player who had a right frontal lobe infarction due to traumatic dissection of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), which resulted in transient left lower extremity paralysis after a hard blow to the forehead. The team medical staff suspected he had a concussion. Patient was quickly evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with T1-volume isotropic turbo spin-echo acquisition (VISTA) (Philips Medical Systems, Eindhoven, Netherlands).
CASE DESCRIPTION
A 21-year-old male college student presented with no previous medical history or any drug intake. During a tackle at rugby practice, his forehead collided with the forehead of an opponent. Immediately after the collision remained asymptomatic and continued to play. However, several hours later of the same day, the patient started experiencing a mild headache with a gnawing pain all over the head. On the 2nd day, he took part in another rugby practice. However, during the rugby practice, experienced several episodes of transient left lower extremity paralysis reporting the event to the team trainer that suspected a concussion and immediately ordered him to stop playing. On the 3rd day of illness, he reported to the team doctor, who instructed him to visit our hospital.
Findings at presentation
The patient did not have headache or posterior neck pain. His Glasgow coma scale score was 4-5-6 and he did not have pupillary abnormalities, nystagmus, eye movement disorder, tetraplegia, sensory disturbance, or balance disorder. The finger-nose test did not reveal any abnormality in the patient. Similarly, his blood tests showed no abnormalities. His electrocardiogram showed sinus rhythm and a pulse rate of 56/min.
Imaging examination
Computed tomography of the head did not show intracranial hemorrhage, but low absorptive changes were observed in the medial right frontal lobe. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) showed occlusion of the right ACA. T1-VISTA revealed an intramural hematoma (hyperintense intramural signal) that was consistent with the occluded artery [
Figure 1:
Head magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) on admission diffusion-weighted imaging and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery showing acute cerebral infarction in the medial right frontal lobe, MRA showing occlusion of the right anterior cerebral artery (→) and T1-volume isotropic turbo spin-echo acquisition (T1-VISTA) showing an intramural hematoma with high signal intensity consistent with the occluded vessel (▲). Red arrows indicate the occluded right anterior cerebral artery. Red arrowhead indicates intramural hematoma. DWI ; diffusion weighted image, FLAIR ; fluid attenuated inversion recovery.
Figure 2:
Follow-up of changes in head Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and T1-volume isotropic turbo spin-echo acquisition (T1-VISTA) We monitored the occluded artery (→) and the intramural hematoma (▲) with MRA and T1-VISTA. Red arrows in all figures indicate the occluded artery. Red arrowheads in all figures indicate the intramural hematoma. T1-VISTA was repeated on the 10th day of illness, 1 month after the sport-related head injury (SRHI) and 3 months after the SRHI. (a) MRA and T1-VISTA on the 10th day of illness showing no vascular recanalization and no aneurysm formation. (b) Recanalization of occluded artery with no aneurysmal changes observed 1 month after the collision. (c) Reocclusion, aneurysm formation or any other morphological abnormality of the artery not observed 3 months after the SRHI. The intramural hematoma extended to the peripheral artery over time, but by 3 months after the SRHI, the size of the intramural hematoma had decreased (d).
Course of events after hospitalization
He was admitted urgently on the 3rd day of illness and underwent thorough neurological examination and blood pressure monitoring. Since the CVI was caused by dissection, there is a possibility that an aneurysm may form in the future that could cause a cerebral hemorrhage. Therefore, the patient was not administered antithrombotic therapy. After admission, the patient was closely monitored for blood pressure, which was not high enough to require antihypertensive medication. He remained clear and conscious with no recurrence of headache or lower extremity paralysis. It was decided to evaluate his vessel with a minimally invasive MRI. If the MRI showed cerebral infarct enlargement or aneurysm formation, a digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was scheduled for a more detailed evaluation. T1-VISTA was repeated on the 10th illness day; it did not show recanalization of the occluded artery and no aneurysm had formed [
T1-VISTA performed 1 month after the SRHI (i.e., on the 31st day of illness) showed recanalization of the occluded artery, but no aneurysmal changes were observed [
Our plan was to perform DSA if there were any changes in vessel morphology over time and to consider the need for additional treatment. In this case, he was able to be followed the changes in vascular morphology using MRI and T1-VISTA. Based on the above clinical and radiological course, we decided that the patient would continue to be followed conservatively and that detailed examination with DSA was unnecessary.
DISCUSSION
The etiology and incidence rate of sport-related CVI are unclear. It was reported in most previous studies that sport-related CVIs involve extracranial carotid or vertebral artery dissection and may cause cerebral infarction.[
Dissection of intracranial cerebral arteries can result in cerebral infarction due to vascular occlusion or intracranial hemorrhage due to aneurysm formation. Intracranial cerebral aneurysms caused by traumatic dissection are rare, accounting for <1% of all intracranial aneurysms. It is estimated that 30% of all intracranial cerebral aneurysms involve the ACA.[
The ACA is thought to be injured at the limb of the falx cerebri by migration of brain tissue or by traction forces due to its anchorage to the falx cerebri.[
Intracranial vascular injuries are often caused by high-energy head trauma, such as car accidents and falls.[
Morphology is important in the diagnosis of dissection. Failure to accurately assess the morphology of dissection leads to delay in diagnosis. Using MRA and T1-VISTA, we were able to diagnose occlusion of a peripheral branch of the ACA that was caused by dissection. It was reported in recent studies that three-dimensional high-resolution vessel wall imaging facilitated the evaluation of intracranial arteries.[
In this case, T1-VISTA was used to evaluate the morphological changes in the artery and the intramural hematoma over time. Intracranial cerebral artery dissection may worsen within 1–2 weeks of onset, with progressive stenosis and enlargement of the aneurysm, but thereafter, the stenosis and occlusion often improve and the aneurysm shrinks. Therefore, it is advisable to follow-up on patients for accurate detection of vascular changes within at least 3 weeks of onset.[
Although the importance of responding to concussions is becoming more widely disseminated, the diagnosis of concussion is not always straightforward. Not all athletes with suspected concussion require hospital evaluation and imaging studies may not be performed if an athlete is deemed only mildly ill after a hospital visit.[
CONCLUSION
We presented the case of a rugby player who had frontal infarction due to traumatic ACA dissection. When evaluating SRHIs, CVIs should be included in the differential diagnosis and it is important to evaluate neck arteries as well as intracranial arteries. T1-VISTA is useful in the diagnosis of cerebral artery dissection, and it can be used to monitor vascular changes over time.
Declaration of patient consent
Institutional Review Board (IRB) permission obtained for the study.
Financial support and sponsorship
This work was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) [grant numbers 18K19725].
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Journal or its management. The information contained in this article should not be considered to be medical advice; patients should consult their own physicians for advice as to their specific medical needs.
References
1. Alexandrino GM, Damásio J, Canhao P, Geraldes R, Melo TP, Correia C. Stroke in sports: A case series. J Neurol. 2014. 261: 1570-4
2. Bae DH, Choi KS, Yi HJ, Chun HJ, Ko Y, Bak KH. Cerebral infarction after traumatic brain injury: Incidence and risk factors. Korean J Neurotrauma. 2014. 10: 35-40
3. Cuellar TA, Lottenberg L, Moore FA. Blunt cerebrovascular injury in rugby and other contact sports: Case report and review of the literature. World J Emerg Surg. 2014. 9: 36
4. Doyle-Baker PK, Mitchell T, Hayden KA. Stroke and athletes: A scoping review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021. 18: 10047
5. Fridley J, Mackey J, Hampton C, Duckworth E, Bershad E. Internal carotid artery dissection and stroke associated with wakeboarding. J Clin Neurosci. 2011. 18: 1258-60
6. Fukuoka T, Kato Y, Ohe Y, Deguchi I, Maruyama H, Hayashi T. A case of anterior cerebral artery dissection caused by scuba diving. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2014. 23: 1982-4
7. He Y, Wang L, Ou Y, Wang H, Wang S, Zhang P. Surgical treatment of traumatic distal anterior cerebral artery aneurysm: A report of nine cases from a single centre. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2020. 162: 523-9
8. Hubertus V, Marklund N, Vajkoczy P. Management of concussion in soccer. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2019. 161: 425-33
9. Ishitsuka K, Sakaki Y, Sakai S, Uwatoko T, Aibe H, Ago T. Diagnosis and follow-up of posterior inferior cerebellar artery dissection complicated with ischemic stroke assisted by T1-VISTA: A report of two cases. BMC Neurol. 2016. 16: 121
10. Kitanaka C, Tanaka J, Kuwahara M, Teraoka A. Magnetic resonance imaging study of intracranial vertebrobasilar artery dissections. Stroke. 1994. 25: 571-5
11. Kleiven S. Why most traumatic brain injuries are not caused by linear acceleration but skull fractures are. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2013. 1: 15
12. Li ML, Xu YY, Hou B, Sun ZY, Zhou HL, Jin ZY. High-resolution intracranial vessel wall imaging using 3D CUBE T1 weighted sequence. Eur J Radiol. 2016. 85: 803-7
13. Lum C, Chakraborty S, Schlossmacher M, Santos M, Mohan R, Sinclair J. Vertebral artery dissection with a normal-appearing lumen at multisection CT angiography: The importance of identifying wall hematoma. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2009. 30: 787-92
14. Mao Z, Wang N, Hussain M, Li M, Zhang H, Zhang Q. Traumatic intracranial aneurysms due to blunt brain injury-a single center experience. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2012. 154: 2187-93
15. McCrory P, Meeuwisse W, Dvořák J, Aubry M, Bailes J, Broglio S. Consensus statement on concussion in sport-the 5th international conference on concussion in sport held in Berlin, October 2016. Br J Sports Med. 2017. 51: 838-47
16. McIntosh AS, McCrory P. Preventing head and neck injury. Br J Sports Med. 2005. 39: 314-8
17. Mizobuchi Y, Nagahiro S. A review of sport-related head injuries. Korean J Neurotrauma. 2016. 12: 1-5
18. Nakagawa K, Touho H, Morisako T, Osaka Y, Tatsuzawa K, Nakae H. Long-term follow-up study of unruptured vertebral artery dissection: Clinical outcomes and serial angiographic findings. J Neurosurg. 2000. 93: 19-25
19. Paiva WS, de Andrade AF, Soares MS, Amorim RL, Figueiredo EG, Teixeira MJ. Occlusion of the anterior cerebral artery after head trauma. World J Radiol. 2013. 5: 226-8
20. Powell D, Stuart S, Godfrey A. Sports related concussion: An emerging era in digital sports technology. NPJ Digit Med. 2021. 4: 164
21. Sakurai K, Miura T, Sagisaka T, Hattori M, Matsukawa N, Mase M. Evaluation of luminal and vessel wall abnormalities in subacute and other stages of intracranial vertebrobasilar artery dissections using the volume isotropic turbo-spin-echo acquisition (VISTA) sequence: A preliminary study. J Neuroradiol. 2013. 40: 19-28
22. Sato H, Sasaki K, Nakamura A, Nakamura F, Yamada M, Maeda A. Acute subdural hematoma in high school rugby players in Japan: The importance of playing experience for injury prevention. World Neurosurg. 2021. 152: e112-7
23. Suhara S, Wong AS, Wong JO. Post-traumatic pericallosal artery aneurysm presenting with subdural haematoma without subarachnoid haemorrhage. Br J Neurosurg. 2008. 22: 295-7
24. Tsunoda S, Inoue T, Matsufuji H, Segawa M, Akabane A. Traumatic pseudoaneurysm resulting from avulsion of the falcine branch of an azygos anterior cerebral artery: A case report. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2022. 164: 2441-5
25. Van Rooij WJ, Van Rooij SB. Endovascular treatment of traumatic pericallosal artery aneurysms. A case report. Interv Neuroradiol. 2013. 19: 56-9
26. Völker W, Dittrich R, Grewe S, Nassenstein I, Csiba L, Herczeg L. The outer arterial wall layers are primarily affected in spontaneous cervical artery dissection. Neurology. 2011. 76: 1463-71
27. Zhang L, Zhang N, Wu J, Zhang L, Huang Y, Liu X. High resolution three dimensional intracranial arterial wall imaging at 3 T using T1 weighted SPACE. Magn Reson Imaging. 2015. 33: 1026-34