Postpartum cerebral angiopathy: reversible vasoconstriction assessed by transcranial Doppler ultrasounds

Eur Neurol. 1989;29(2):102-5. doi: 10.1159/000116388.

Abstract

Postpartum cerebral angiopathy is a distinct reversible clinicoradiological syndrome which develops shortly after a normal pregnancy. It may belong to the poorly defined group of acute benign cerebral angiopathy, in which multisegmental narrowings of cerebral arteries are also reversible. In a 22-year-old woman with postpartum cerebral angiopathy, sequential transcranial Doppler ultrasounds showed that the flow disturbances began to improve 4 days after onset, and normalized 4 weeks later. A vasoconstriction response to acute severe hypertension is likely to explain this reversible angiopathy.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cerebral Arteries / physiology
  • Cerebral Cortex / blood supply*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Postpartum Period / physiology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Ultrasonography*
  • Vasoconstriction*