Ischemic Stroke of the Artery of Percheron with Normal Initial MRI: A Case Report

The artery of Percheron is a solitary trunk representing an uncommon anatomic variant that provides bilateral arterial supply to the paramedian thalami and the rostral midbrain. Occlusion of this artery results in bilateral thalamic and mesencephalic infarctions. The clinical diagnosis is difficult because the complex anatomy causes large clinical variability. We report a case of a comatose patient with normal early head-computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. A bilateral paramedian thalamic infarct due to an occlusion of the artery of Percheron was revealed two days later by a new head computed tomography. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature of a symptomatic patient presenting an acute Percheron stroke with normal early brain magnetic resonance imaging. Our case indicates that a normal initial magnetic resonance imaging cannot formally eliminate the diagnosis of acute stroke of the artery of Percheron. We discuss the causes of noncontributive brain magnetic resonance imaging at the onset of this acute Percheron stroke and the alternative diagnosis and therapy methods

Cerebral microdialysis and PtiO2 to decide unilateral decompressive craniectomy after brain gunshot

Decompressive craniectomy (DC) following brain injury can induce complications (hemorrhage, infection, and hygroma). It is then considered as a last-tier therapy, and can be deleteriously delayed. Focal neuromonitoring (microdialysis and PtiO2) can help clinicians to decide bedside to perform DC in case of intracranial pressure (ICP) around 20 to 25 mmHg despite maximal medical treatment. This was the case of a hunter, brain injured by gunshot. DC was performed at day 6, because of unstable ICP, ischemic trend of PtiO2, and decreased cerebral glucose but normal lactate/pyruvate ratio. His evolution was good despite left hemiplegia due to initial injury