ABSTRACT Internal watershed infarcts (IWIs) occur at the junction of the deep and superficial perforating arterial branches of the cerebrum. Despite documentation in the radiology literature, IWIs are rarely encountered at the time of autopsy. Here, we report the case of a 59-year-old incarcerated male who was brought to the emergency department after being found unresponsive on the floor of his jail cell. Initial examination and imaging demonstrated right-sided hemiplegia, aphasia, right facial droop, and severe stenosis of the left middle cerebral artery, respectively. Repeat imaging 4 days after admission and 26 days before death demonstrated advanced stenosis of the intracranial, communicating segment of the right internal carotid artery, a large acute infarct in the right posterior cerebral artery territory, and bilateral deep white matter ischemic changes with a right-sided “rosary-like” pattern of injury that is typical of IWIs. Postmortem gross examination showed that the right deep white matter lesion had progressed to a confluent, “cigar-shaped” subacute IWI involving the right corona radiata. This is the first well-documented case of an IWI with radiologic imaging and photographic gross pathology correlation. This case uniquely highlights a rarely encountered lesion at the time of autopsy and provides an excellent visual representation of internal watershed neuroanatomy.

Apresentamos um caso comprovado por biópsia de pseudotumor carotídeo em um homem de 47 anos, com apresentação clínica de carotidinia. A TC mostrou massa envolvendo e estenosando a artéria carótida comum direita e a RM apresentava lesão com hipossinal em T2 e importante realce com o uso de meio de contraste paramagnético. O paciente recebeu a hipótese de lesão inflamatória e um tratamento com corticosteróides foi iniciado. Após oito dias de tratamento uma melhora clínica e radiológica significativas foram observadas. O paciente permanece assintomático.

We present a biopsy proven case of 47 years-old man with a carotid pseudotumor, clinically presented as carotidynia. CT showed a mass encasing and narrowing the common carotid artery and MRI showed hypointense signal in T2 and intense enhancement after contrast media administration. The patient was suspected to have an inflammatory process and steroids were prescribed. Eight days after the steroid treatment significant radiological and clinical improvement was observed. The patient remains free of symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the metabolic status of the brain in post traumatic brain injury(TBI) depression using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). DESIGN: Case-control study including 5 TBI depressed subjects and 5 age matched non-TBI non-depressed controls. METHODS: Metabolic status was assessed using proton MRS. Ratios of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho) and total creatine (Cr) were calculated in frontal cortex, basal ganglia and thalamus. RESULTS: NAA/Cho or NAA/Cr ratios were significantly reduced in the TBI depressed group compared to controls in frontal cortex, basal ganglia and thalamus. CONCLUSION: Reduced levels of NAA in frontal regions, basal ganglia and thalamus in TBI depression suggest neuronal damage or dysfunction which may be a associated with the primary brain injury or with depressed mood.