RAEDERS SYNDROME - REPORT OF 2 CASES

Raeder's syndrome constitutes facial pain and ispilateral stenosis of the palpebral fissure, miosis and enophthalmos. It is divided into two groups. Group I includes cases with parasellar cranial nerve involvem ent and group II without parasellar cranial nerve involvement. It is o ften difficult to distinguish group II of Raeder's syndrome from Horne r's syndrome. The latter is painless and is accompanied by anidrosis o f the ispilateral half of the face. In fact Raeder's syndrome may be c aused by any lesion affecting the post-ganglionic oculosympathetic fib ers distal to the bifurcation of the common carotid artery. Serious le sions of the internal carotid artery (ICA) may be responsible for this syndrome. This paper deals with two cases of group II of Raeder's syn drome. In the first case, a 60-year-old man, the angiogram revealed an aneurysm of the extracranial part of the ICA just below its entrance into the calvarium. In the second case, a 42-year-old man, a dissectiv e aneurysm of the ICA was found. Surgery was not attempted in either o f our patients for different reasons. Their symptoms ameliorated quick ly with medical treatment.