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(Stroke. 1997;28:456-458.)
© 1997 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Myxoma in the Carotid Artery

Myxomatous Occlusion of Internal Carotid Artery

N.A. Robbin, MBBCh; P. Landless, FCP (SA); K. Cooper, FFPath (SA), DPhil (Oxon) V.U. Fritz, FCP (SA), FRCP (Lond), PhD (WITS)

the Departments of Neurology (N.A.R., V.U.F.), Cardiology (P.L.), and Anatomical Pathology (K.C.), School of Pathology, South African Institute for Medical Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Background We describe a patient with an unusual cause of internal carotid artery occlusion resulting in a stroke.

Case Description A 41-year-old woman presented with a typical acute right middle cerebral artery territory infarct. Her hematological and cardiological status was assessed, including all extracranial vessels. Carotid angiography and a biopsy were performed of the occluded right internal carotid artery and demonstrated a myxoma. Cardiac investigations to determine the source of the myxoma, including transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms, CT and yo-yo CT scans, and MRI of the heart, were normal. No residual tumor or potential source of the tumor was found.

Conclusion The cause of stroke was a myxomatous occlusion of the right internal carotid artery. An entire cardiac tumor may have embolized with no detectable residual tumor in the heart; alternatively, a myxoma may have originated as a primary tumor in the carotid artery. To our knowledge, no primary myxoma has been reported to have originated in a blood vessel.

Key Words: carotid artery occlusion • myxoma