True mycotic aneurysm in a patient with gonadotropinoma after trans-sphenoidal surgery

Intracranial aspergilloma mimicking metachronous meningioma following transsphenoidal removal of a tuberculum sellae meningioma: illustrative case

BACKGROUND

Endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (eTSS) is a well-established approach for resection of skull-based pathologies such as tuberculum sellae meningiomas; however, central nervous system (CNS) fungal infection is a potential complication, particularly in a patient with concomitant sinusitis.

OBSERVATIONS

A 58-year-old woman with a tuberculum sellae meningioma causing progressive visual disturbance and concurrent asymptomatic chronic maxillary sinusitis underwent eTSS. Six months later, a de novo dura-based mass with peripheral edema, which was assumed to be an aggressive metachronous meningioma, developed in the middle cranial fossa. The patient underwent frontotemporal craniotomy for complete resection of the lesion, and subsequent histological examination revealed an aspergilloma. She was then treated with an antifungal agent and endoscopic sinus surgery to clear the sinusitis, and no recurrent fungal infection occurred thereafter.

LESSONS

CNS fungal infections may appear as a dura-based mass mimicking meningioma. The current case reiterates the importance of the appropriate management of sinusitis prior to eTSS.

Fatal Fungal Aneurysm Rupture Due to Aspergillosis after Craniopharyngioma Removal via Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery: Case Report and Comparison with Seven Reported Patients

There has been a noted increase in the incidence of intracranial aspergillosis; this is often attributed to the wider use of antibiotics, corticosteroids, and immunosuppressants. Fungal cerebral aneurysms due to aspergillosis after neurosurgery remain extremely rare; in fact, only seven cases have been reported in the literature. In this study, we present a patient with an Aspergillus aneurysm that elicited subarachnoid hemorrhage after endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) for craniopharyngioma. A 70-year-old woman with recurrent craniopharyngioma and steroid treatment underwent uneventful EES. On the 5th postoperative day, she suffered subarachnoid hemorrhage. As per her computed tomography angiography findings, an aneurysm was detected on the left internal carotid artery (ICA). Subsequent digital subtraction angiography showed occlusion of the ICA and an irregularly shaped wall. The diagnosis was pseudoaneurysm. We then performed craniotomy to place a left high-flow bypass and to trap the pseudoaneurysm. Despite continuous intensive care, she died on the 25th postoperative day of a huge, left cerebral infarct. The final diagnosis was made at autopsy; it revealed destruction of the ICA and Aspergillus invasion of the vessel wall, confirming the presence of a true fungal aneurysm. Perioperatively, patients with potential immunosuppression must be carefully managed. Advanced age is a risk factor. As surgery via the paranasal sinuses raises the risk for aspergillosis, fungal infection must be ruled out in patients whose postoperative course is deemed concerning.

Surgical treatment of ruptured right middle cerebral artery mycotic aneurysm and central nervous system aspergillosis: Clinical case and literature review

Background:

Central nervous system (CNS) aspergillosis is more often met in patients with expressed immune suppression. Still, in 50% of cases of meningitis caused by Aspergillus spp., it is observed in patients without expressed immune suppression. The prognosis of CNS aspergillosis is unfavorable with the general rate of lethality around 70%.

Case Description:

Clinical case of a 58-year-old man who developed an Aspergillus abscess in the chiasmosellar region and an associated mycotic aneurysm of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) and intracerebral hemorrhage. Microsurgical clipping of the fusiform-ectatic aneurysm of the right MCA in the conditions of rupture was performed. An extra-intracranial micro anastomosis was formed on the right. An open biopsy of the neoplasm in the chiasmosellar region was made. The neoplasm was yellow and destroyed the bone plate of the skull base. Biopsy results: Mycotic lesion (aspergillosis). The analysis of surgical treatment for mycotic aneurysms in the acute period of hemorrhage in patients with aspergillosis revealed a high rate of lethality. The issue of the feasibility and effectiveness of complicated revascularization interventions in the patients with hemorrhage and aspergillosis remains unsolved.

Conclusion:

The lack of generally accepted tactics of the treatment of this pathology requires further studies and systemic analysis. A high risk of the lethal outcome in patients with invasive mycotic infection and rupture of mycotic aneurysm highlight the importance of timely diagnostics and the beginning of antimycotic therapy. WThe issue of the evaluation of the revascularization methods effectiveness in patients after surgical treatment of a mycotic aneurysm associated with cerebral aspergillosis remains poor.

Fungal aneurism of the right posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA)

In this case-report, the Authors show the case of a sudden death occurred in a 38-year-old woman submitted to surgical excision of a right acoustic neurinoma. At the autopsy, was detected a cerebral hemorrhage with multifocal localization by a ruptured rare fungal aneurysm of the Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Arthery (PICA). The PCR analysis, carried out on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue, identified the Aspergillus Penicillioides as the involved pathogen. We discuss the main points of infectious aneurysms, being a potential neurosurgical complication.