CASE REPORTS   

Minerva Chirurgica 2008 December;63(6):547-9

Copyright © 2008 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Isolated aneurysm of the inferior thyroid artery repair with coil embolization

Ferrero E. ¹, Gaggiano A. ¹, Maggio D. ¹, Ferri M. ¹, Piazza S. ¹, Berardi G. ¹, Viazzo A. ¹, Cumbo P. ¹, Lamorgese V. ¹, Nessi F. ¹, Carbonatto P. ²

¹ Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Unit, Mauriziano Umberto I Hospital, Turin, Italy 2 Department of Radiology, Mauriziano Umberto I Hospital, Turin, Italy

A 68-year-old female patient with a suspected aneurysm of the inferior thyroid artery was admitted to the authors’ Unit of emergency after an accident. The echography of the thyroid revealed a “suspected” aneurismal dilation of the inferior thyroid artery (max. diameter 30 mm.). The patient underwent an angiograph of the supra-aortic trunk, which detected a small round formation at the base of the left inferior thyroid artery (found to be unaffected by aneurismal pathologies), the aneurysm was excluded by coil embolization. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged in one day without complications. The follow-up with colour Duplex, at 4-8 months, showed the normal vascularization of the neck arterial vessels and was confirmed the absence of aneurysmal dilations. Aneurysms of the inferior thyroid artery are extremely rare, in scientific literature only 28 cases have been reported of which 32.9% regard ruptured aneurysms in the thyroid artery and 10.7% led to mortality. They may cause dysphagia and/or respiratory difficulties. Therefore, treatment is always recommended, even in asymptomatic cases, by surgical exclusion or coil embolization.