Floating structure of the carotid artery as a cause of microembolism in the basin of cerebral arteries

Bakhmetiev A.S.¹, Kovalenko V.I.³, Chekhonatskaya M.L.¹, Kulikova A.N.¹, Kursachenko A.S.¹, Chibrikova L.M.², Greshnova O.G.¹

1) V.I. Razumovsky Saratov State Medical University under the RF Ministry of Public Health,
2) Municipal Clinical Hospital №9, Saratov,
3) A.N. Bakulev National Medical Research Center of Cardiovascular Surgery under the RF Ministry of Public Health, Moscow, Russia

This article describes a rare clinical and diagnostic case report regarding a female patient presenting with frequent transitory attacks in the basin of both middle cerebral arteries. Based on the findings of duplex scanning of the cervical arteries we revealed floating structures with the presence of pronounced slow turbulent blood flow. After excluding all known causes of cerebral artery microembolism, associated with heart pathology or with the presence of unstable atherosclerotic plaques, the leading hypothesis of transitory ischaemic attacks in the woman concerned was the formation of microthrombi in the zone of motility of the structures revealed. The results of bitemporal transcranial Doppler monitoring carried out during 30 minutes detected more than 10 microembolic signals in the middle cerebral artery, thus confirming the embolic nature of transitory ischaemic attacks.

KEY WORDS: carotid arteries, floating structure, transitory ischaemic attack, middle cerebral artery embolism, microembolic signals.

P. 168

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