Balloon-mounted covered stent as endovascular management of a traumatic cervical internal carotid artery pseudoaneurysm in a 23-year-old: a case report

Background: Distal cervical internal carotid artery (cICA) pseudoaneurysms are uncommon. They may lead to thromboembolic or hemorrhagic complications, especially in young adults. We report one of the first cases in the literature regarding the management via PK Papyrus (Biotronik, Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA) balloon-mounted covered stent of a 23-year-old male with an enlarging cervical carotid artery pseudoaneurysm and progressive internal carotid artery stenosis.

Case description: We report the management of a 23-year-old male with an enlarging cervical carotid artery pseudoaneurysm and progressive internal carotid artery stenosis. Based on clinical judgment and imaging analysis, the best option to seal the aneurysm was a PK Papyrus 5×26 balloon-mounted covered stent. A follow-up angiogram showed no residual filling of the pseudoaneurysm, but there was some contrast stagnation just proximal to the stent, which is consistent with a residual dissection flap. We then deployed another PK Papyrus 5×26 balloon-mounted covered stent, providing some overlap at the proximal end of the stent. An angiogram following this subsequent deployment demonstrated complete reconstruction of the cICA with no residual evidence of pseudoaneurysm or dissection flap. There were no residual in-stent stenosis or vessel stenosis. The patient was discharged the day after the procedure with no complications.

Conclusions: These positive outcomes support the use of a balloon-mounted covered stent as a safe and feasible modality with high technical success for endovascular management of pseudoaneurysm.