Cerebral air emboli from angiography in a patient with stroke - A case report

A 42-year-old woman with subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage was inve stigated with diagnostic angiography, disclosing an occlusion of the left i nternal carotid artery and the middle cerebral artery. CT examination immed iately after the angiography revealed a 12-h-old infarct of the left middle cerebral artery territory. There was also gas in the arteries supplying th e infarcted part of the brain, but not in other vessels. Air had most proba bly been introduced during the angiography and had consequently been "trapp ed" in the cortical arteries of the ischemic brain. In the non-ischemic par ts of the brain air may have passed through the vessels leaving no trace.