Surgical clipping of flow related giant unruptured anterior spinal artery aneurysm secondary to co-arctation of aorta: Management challenges and lessons learnt

- Extremely rare differential diagnosis of thoracic compressive myelopathy
- Case associated with co-arctation of aorta
- Example of successful management
- Discussion of the literature

BackgroundAnterior spinal artery aneurysms (ASAA) are extremely rare. While these aneurysms are very well known to cause spinal subarachnoid haemorrhage/hematomyelia secondary to sudden rupture, presentation with chronic myelopathy remains extremely rare.Case reportA 50-year-old gentleman presented with chronic upper thoracic myelopathy for 1 year. MRI of the dorsal spine revealed an intradural T2 hypointense mass with prominent vessels at T1 level. During intra-arterial angiography, accidental diagnosis of a co-existent co-arctation of the aorta was made. The intradural spinal mass turned out to be a giant, partially thrombosed ASA aneurysm on angiography. This patient underwent surgical clipping of the aneurysm utilizing a posterolateral approach. The patient experienced a stormy early postoperative period due to acute renal failure and pulmonary edema that settled down by the time of discharge.ConclusionASAA remains an extremely rare cause of compressive myelopathy. Its association with co-arctation of aorta increases treatment related mortality. Posterolateral approach provides a good exposure of the aneurysm for surgical clipping with minimal retraction of the cord.