Atypical presentation of postpartum cerebral angiopathy shown as a small penetrating arterial territory infarct with severe peri-infarct edema

• Published in: Journal of neuroimaging Vol. 20; no. 3; p. 290
• Main Authors: Cho, A-Hyun, Lim, Sung Chul, Kim, Beum Saeng, Yang, Dong Won, Shon, Young-Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Brain Ischemia - diagnostic imaging; Brain Ischemia - pathology; Cerebral Angiography; Cerebral Arterial Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Arterial Diseases - pathology; Female; Humans; Puerperal Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Puerperal Disorders - pathology
• ISSN: 1552-6569
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1552-6569.2008.00302.x

Postpartum cerebral angiopathy mostly occurs in the large or medium-sized cerebral arteries. In this case, we aimed to report a case of postpartum cerebral angiopathy presented as an asymmetrical penetrating arterial territory infarct with severe surrounding vasogenic edema. A 26-year-old woman admitted because of sudden headache after an attack of seizure. On initial computerized tomography (CT), hypodense lesion in the right basal ganglia was observed. The diffusion-weighted image on 5th day revealed focal acute ischemic infarction with surrounding extensive vasogenic edema in right basal ganglia. The CT angiography showed multifocal arterial narrowing of intracranial cerebral arteries that completely resolved on the follow-up study. This case suggested that asymmetrical small penetrating arterial territory infarct can occur as an atypical presentation of postpartum cerebral angiopathy.