Congenital absence of the bilateral internal carotid arteries (ICA) is a very rare occurrence. Recognition of this rare anomaly is important, when considering intracranial endovascular interventions in the event of thromboembolic events with revascularization, transsphenoidal surgery, and the surveillance and detection of associated cerebral aneurysms. We report a case of a 25-year-old man who presented with headache since 2 years ago, and was incidentally discovered to have a congenital bilateral absence of ICAs.

Congenital absence of the bilateral internal carotid arteries (ICA) is a very rare occurrence. Recognition of this rare anomaly is important, when considering intracranial endovascular interventions in the event of thromboembolic events with revascularization, transsphenoidal surgery, and the surveillance and detection of associated cerebral aneurysms. We report a case of a 25-year-old man who presented with headache since 2 years ago, and was incidentally discovered to have a congenital bilateral absence of ICAs.

Rope entanglement injury is a rare entity. Previous reported studies mainly consisted of finger-related injuries. We describe three cases of rope entanglement injury of the lower leg. In the first patient, a belowthe- knee amputation was performed as the primary treatment for unilateral amputated lower limb. In the second patient, a below-the-knee amputation and perineal wound management were simultaneously performed. The third patient had vascular injury combined with internal soft tissue injury without related bone fracture. He suffered serious sequelae from a delay in transfer from a local hospital. Rope entanglement injuries of the lower leg do not present in a consistent manner, and the treatment of accompanying injuries should be considered from an early stage. Care should be taken to ensure that there are no internal injuries missed because the exterior appears to be stable.

BACKGROUND: Attempts have been made to use the signal changes of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI as "a tissue clock," defined as a surrogate marker of the tissue damage resulting from acute ischemic stroke. The evolution of FLAIR signals after stroke onset has never been fully explained solely by time. The aim of this study was to determine whether cerebral small-vessel disease (SVD) affects FLAIR changes following acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: Based on data from a prospective stroke registry, consecutive patients who were hospitalized to the stroke center within 12 hours of stroke onset between January 2004 and May 2011 and had occlusion of the major cerebral arteries in the anterior circulation, as evidenced by MR angiography, were enrolled. Cases with FLAIR changes and controls without FLAIR changes were matched according to the time elapsed from stroke onset to MR study. RESULTS: Among the 130 patients who met the eligibility criteria, 62 (47.7%) had FLAIR changes. The time interval between stroke onset and MR study differed significantly between those with and without FLAIR changes (5.2 hours vs. 3.0 hours). FLAIR changes were more common among males and smokers. Comparisons between cases and controls matched on a one-to-one basis did not reveal any difference in the three signs of cerebral SVD: white-matter hyperintensities, lacunae, and cerebral microbleeds. CONCLUSIONS: This study failed to find any data supporting the hypothesis that cerebral SVD affects FLAIR changes after acute ischemic stroke.
Angiography ; Biomarkers ; Case-Control Studies ; Cerebral Arteries ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke