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Delayed Development of Brain Abscesses Following Stent-Graft Placement in a Head and Neck Cancer Patient Presenting with Carotid Blowout Syndrome

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Abstract

We describe the delayed development of intracranial abscesses following emergent treatment with a covered stent-graft for carotid blowout syndrome (CBS) in a patient with head and neck cancer. The patient presented with hemoptysis and frank arterial bleeding through the tracheostomy site. A self-expandable stent-graft was deployed across a small pseudoaneurysm arising from the right common carotid artery (RCCA) and resulted in immediate hemostasis. Three months later, the patient suffered a recurrent hemorrhage. CT of the neck demonstrated periluminal fluid around the caudal aspect of the stent-graft with intraluminal thrombus and a small pseudoaneurysm. Subsequently, the patient underwent a balloon test occlusion study and endovascular sacrifice of the RCCA and right internal carotid artery. MRI of the brain demonstrated at least four ring-enhancing lesions within the right cerebral hemisphere consistent with intracranial abscesses that resolved with broad-spectrum antibiotic coverage.

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Correspondence to Joseph J. Gemmete.

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Oweis, Y., Gemmete, J.J., Chaudhary, N. et al. Delayed Development of Brain Abscesses Following Stent-Graft Placement in a Head and Neck Cancer Patient Presenting with Carotid Blowout Syndrome. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 34 (Suppl 2), 31–35 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-009-9778-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-009-9778-1

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