Unruptured internal carotid-posterior communicating artery aneurysm splitting the oculomotor nerve: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Background: Although it is well known that internal carotid-posterior communicating artery (ICA-PcomA) aneurysms compress the oculomotor nerve and cause nerve palsy, cases of ICA-PcomA aneurysms splitting the oculomotor nerve are extremely rare. Case Description: We present the rare case of an asymptomatic, growing, left-sided ICA-PcomA aneurysm that was confirmed to split the oculomotor nerve. We report the clinical course and discuss the underlying mechanism. The oculomotor nerve, which is an aggregate of multiple fibers, exhibits age-related loss of compactness in the arrangement of its nerve fibers. Conclusion: We speculate that injury to the nerve fibers by aneurysmal compression was avoided because of the rare phenomenon of splitting of the oculomotor nerve.