Internal Carotid Artery Pseudoaneurysm Secondary to Skull Base Osteomyelitis: A Case Report

Abstract

We report a case of a pseudoaneurysm secondary to skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) in an 82-year-old female. The patient was hospitalized with an acute episode of bleeding from the right ear, which persisted despite packing placed in the ear. We suspected bleeding from the internal carotid artery (ICA) and performed angiography, which revealed a pseudoaneurysm that presumably developed secondary to invasion of the wall of the petrous segment of the right ICA, and the patient underwent emergency coil embolization. Bleeding from the ear recurred a week later, and we performed repeat angiography, followed by embolization and deployment of multiple stents at the site of the pseudoaneurysm, which controlled the bleeding. Clinicians should be mindful of a pseudoaneurysm as a rare complication of SBO, following the spread of infection to adjacent soft tissues or vessels. A pseudoaneurysm should be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with recurrent epistaxis or bleeding from the ears in addition to cranial nerve symptoms, and this condition warrants urgent evaluation.