Primary central nervous system vasculitis : Experience of Inha university hospital

초록

Purpose : Primary angiitis of the central nervous systems is a rare disease and characterised by vasculitis of the cerebral arteries, usually associated with lateralized weakness, aphasia, visual complaints and seizures. Hemorrhagic stroke also occurred in approximately 10% of patients. However, description about PACNS case series in asia has been limited until now. Here, we report the clinical characteristics of PACNS cases experienced in our hospital. Methods :We performed retrospective review of the prospectively collected stroke registry from August 2014 to July 2015. The diagnosis of PACNS was based on findings of conventional angiography and other laboratory findings. The clinical, laboratory, radiologic, therapy and outcomes of patients were also analyzed. Results : During the study period, 4 PACNS cases were identified among total 475ischemic stroke patients(one man , 47±5.7 years old). Three patients had embolic infarction in MCA areas, and one patient had cortical subarachnoid hemorrhage. Old asymptomatic infarction was observed in three patients. Vasculopathy involved both MCA, ACA and PCA diffusely. One patient had hypertension and other subject was current smoker. Other risk factors were not detected on evaluation. Three patients had transient hemiparesis and one complained of visual blurring. Two patients had the history of chronic headache. All symptoms and headache disappeared after steroid medication without stroke recurrence during observation period. Conclusions : PACNS is uncommon, but can be curable disease by proper medication. PACNS should be considered as one cause of young age stroke. More data about PACNS in Asia need to be investigated.