Partially thrombosed giant aneurysm arising from a distal anterior inferior cerebellar artery-posterior inferior cerebellar artery variant: A case report

Anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA)-posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) is a well-known variant in cerebral arteries. However, aneurysms located on the variant are rare and a giant one has not been reported. We report a case of a partially thrombosed giant aneurysm arising from an AICA-PICA variant. The patient was a 42-year-old man who presented with right hearing loss and facial numbness associated with left hemidysesthesia. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an approximately 3.0-cm mass lesion at the right cerebello-pontine angle (CPA). Angiography showed a partially thrombosed aneurysm arising from the right AICA-PICA. The aneurysm was treated with endovascular trapping and surgical thrombectomy. Although cerebral aneurysm is known to occur at this site, this case provides awareness, that manifestations of aneurysms in the CPA include progressive multiple cranial nerve palsies and sensory disturbance caused by brainstem compression. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license