Transorbital Penetrating Intracranial Injury with an Umbrella Wire Causing Cavernous Internal Carotid Artery Injury and Thrombosis

Transorbital penetrating head injury with a favorable outcome: illustrative case

BACKGROUND

Transorbital penetrating head injuries (PHIs) are uncommon but can lead to substantial deficits, depending on intracranial involvement and the neuroanatomical structures affected. Complete recovery after such injuries is rare.

OBSERVATIONS

A 7-year-old boy sustained a PHI when he fell onto a garden spike while climbing a fence. Initial imaging showed an orbital roof fracture, focal subarachnoid hemorrhage, and an intraparenchymal hemorrhage in the right frontal lobe with associated linear tract extending to the contralateral superior temporal gyrus. Relevant neuroanatomical structures, including the anterior cerebral arteries (ACAs) and the basal ganglia, were spared. This is in keeping with superior transorbital PHI caused by a garden spike, which had transgressed the skull entering from the right superior orbit. Clinically, he experienced some transient right-sided weakness and mild speech disturbance. Some questionable vasospasm of the ACAs observed on interim magnetic resonance imaging was absent in a repeat imaging study, followed by an unremarkable radiographic follow-up at 6 months after injury. At 18 months after injury, he is neurologically intact without deficit.

LESSONS

Most PHIs bear serious lifelong consequences, but here was a case of a deep, penetrating object that managed to avoid all significant neuroanatomical pathways, leading to complete recovery in follow-up.

Pediatric ocular trauma: intraorbital foreign body. Case report

Introduction: Penetrating traumas in the orbit and intraorbital foreign bodies during pediatric age are rare and could be associated with vascular and optic nerve injuries.Clinical case: Five-year-old female patient with penetrating trauma in left orbit of 1 hour of evolution caused by a brush after accidentally tripping with a classmate while painting during art class. The patient was taken the pediatric emergency department of the Clinica Universitaria Colombia in Bogotá where she was admitted, assessed with scanographic studies and taken to surgery to remove the intraorbital foreign body.Discussion: The case of this patient was characterized by indemnity of the eyeball, central artery and vein of the retina and optic nerve, in addition to timely and interdisciplinary management that reduced the risk of complications.Conclusions: The analysis of the clinical evolution of the patient allowed identifying the key events to approach this type of cases, as well as the multiple management and prognosis alternatives according to the type and trajectory of the penetrating object.

[A case of internal carotid thrombus associated with brain infarction]

A 49-year-old man was transferred to our hospital with chief complaint of global aphasia and weakness of right upper and lower limbs. Brain MRI showed ultra-acute cerebral infarction in left anterior cerebral artery and middle cerebral artery territory and MRA showed occlusion of A2 and M2. Although t-PA was administrated intravenously, symptoms didn't improve and giant internal carotid thrombus (size 6 × 7 × 17 mm) was recognized at left internal carotid artery by carotid ultrasonography. After started anticoagulant therapy, thrombus was miniaturized gradually and finally disappeared. Anticoagulant therapy is effective to internal carotid thrombus and carotid ultrasonography is useful to confirm the effectiveness. We suggest that clinicians should enforce anticoagulant therapy for the first choice to internal carotid thrombus.