Child's Nervous System
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-020-04853-7
CASE REPORT
Radiation-induced intracranial aneurysm presenting with acute
hemorrhage in a child treated for medulloblastoma
Matthias W. Wagner 1
Prakash Muthusami 1
&
Michael C. Dewan 2 & Adam A. Dmytriw 1 & Vijay Ramaswamy 3 & Michael D. Taylor 2 &
Received: 15 June 2020 / Accepted: 30 July 2020
# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
Radiation-associated aneurysms are rare, difficult to treat, and associated with high morbidity and mortality when ruptured,
compared with aneurysms unrelated to radiation treatment. We present a 16-year-old patient with a radiation-induced intracranial
aneurysm arising from the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA), 10 years following radiotherapy for medulloblastoma.
The patient successfully underwent endovascular coil embolization of the parent artery across the neck of the aneurysm. CT
angiography and MRI in the days following the procedure demonstrated maintained flow in the anterior and lateral medullary
PICA segments with no brainstem infarct.
Keywords Medulloblastoma . Radiation . Aneurysm . Embolization
Introduction
Following surgical resection, the treatment of medulloblastoma is dependent on clinical risk assessment and the child’s age
(above or below 3 years of age). For children above 3 years of
age, external beam radiation to the brain and spine with tumor
boost is combined with multidrug chemotherapy. Compared
with average-risk patients (< 1.5 cm2 post-surgical residual
tumor, no metastasis at diagnosis), high-risk patients (> 1.5
cm2 post-surgical residual tumor or metastasis at diagnosis)
are treated with increased cranio-spinal irradiation of up to
39.6 G [1]. Long-term complications of radiation therapy are
well-described and include neurocognitive dysfunction, secondary cancers, and hearing loss. Radiation-induced vasculopathy and strokes are rare [2].
* Matthias W. Wagner
matthias.wagner@sickkids.ca
1
Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Division of Neuroradiology, The
Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, 555 University
Ave, Toronto, ON M5G 1X8, Canada
2
Department of Neurosurgery, The Hospital for Sick Children,
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
3
Department of Neuro-Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children,
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
We present a case of radiation-induced ruptured aneurysm
of the posterior inferior cerebellar (PICA) artery in a child with
a history of medulloblastoma.
Case report
A 16-year-old male presented acutely with blurred vision,
emesis, frontal and occipital headache, and transient loss of
consciousness. Eleven years prior, he underwent a suboccipital craniotomy and gross total resection of a group 4
medulloblastoma, followed by adjuvant therapy as per the
SJMB03 protocol with radiation (23.4-Gy craniospinal irradiation with tumor bed boost to 55.8 Gy) and four cycles of
cisplatin-based chemotherapy. After completion of therapy,
his clinical course was complicated by prolonged neutropenia,
transient posterior fossa syndrome, hearing loss, and growth
hormone deficiency. Upon most recent presentation, an urgent
head CT revealed Fisher grade 4 subarachnoid hemorrhage
(Fig. 1a) with early hydrocephalus. CT angiography (CTA)
demonstrated a multilobulated 6 × 6 mm aneurysm arising
from the telovelotonsillar segment of the left PICA, pointing
into the fourth ventricle. A review of his imaging history revealed stability of postsurgical findings on serial MRI over 10
years following treatment, with a new 2-mm saccular prominence on the left PICA on MRI performed 10 months before
the current presentation (Fig. 1b, c).
Childs Nerv Syst
Fig. 1 Intraventricular hemorrhage from ruptured PICA aneurysm. a
Sagittal reformat from the CT head at presentation showing third and
fourth ventricular hemorrhage (white arrows). b Post-gadolinium
sagittal 3D T1-WI showing a 2-mm focal dilatation 10 months prior to
presentation. Serial MRI prior to this had a normal appearance. c
Maximum intensity projection from CT-A at presentation showing
enlargement to a 6-mm aneurysm (white arrow) with intraventricular
hemorrhage (black arrows)
Emergent insertion of an external ventricular drain was
performed, followed by transfer to the interventional suite
for catheter angiography. Angiography confirmed an aneurysm arising from the cranial loop of the telovelotonsillar segment of the left PICA. 3D rotational angiography with conebeam CTA reconstruction allowed detailed assessment of
angioanatomy, which suggested focal luminal narrowing and
discontinuity at the site of the outpouching, suggesting a
pseudoaneurysm. Right vertebral injection showed a hypoplastic right PICA, but there was a dominant left anterior inferior cerebellar artery. A decision was made to sacrifice the
parent artery. This was performed using five detachable coils
Fig. 2 Endovascular treatment. a
Roadmap overlay from digital
subtraction angiography showing
parent artery sacrifice with coils.
b Post-coiling angiogram
showing occluded aneurysm with
maintained flow in the anterior
and lateral PICA segments. c
Sagittal T2 MRI performed 2
days later showing normal signal
of the brainstem and acute
cerebellar infarct
Childs Nerv Syst
(Penumbra SMART coils) across the neck of the aneurysm,
achieving complete occlusion (Fig. 2a, b). CTA and MRI in
the following days showed maintained flow in the anterior and
lateral medullary PICA segments with no brainstem infarct,
and expected ischemia limited to the postero-inferior left cerebellar parenchyma (Fig. 2c).
Discussion
Data availability Internal hospital network
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest None
Ethics approval Not applicable (case report)
Consent to participate Not applicable
Consent for publication Obtained from the patient’s parent
Children account for less than 5% of all intracranial aneurysms, most commonly related to dissection, trauma, infection, or arteriopathies [3]. We report a rare occurrence of delayed formation of an intracranial aneurysm in a child following posterior fossa radiotherapy for medulloblastoma. To our
knowledge, there are only nine previous cases of intracranial
radiation-induced aneurysm reported in children [4].
Aneurysms in previously irradiated fields are believed to be
particularly fragile with higher tendency to rupture than aneurysms unrelated to radiotherapy. In addition, vessels in the
anterior circulation appear to be more radiation sensitive to
aneurysm formation than those in the posterior circulation
[4]. It has been hypothesized that histologic changes secondary to radiation including fibrosis, medial necrosis, and endothelial inflammation degrade the integrity of the vessel wall
[5]. Continued shear stress of blood flow can eventually lead
either to aneurysmal dilatation, or to rupture at the weakest
point with pseudoaneurysm formation. This chronic process is
reflected by the long median lag time between radiation and
aneurysm diagnosis of up to 10 years (SD 9 years) [5].
Although the likelihood of intracranial aneurysm formation
is associated with higher doses of radiotherapy, doses have
not been shown to affect latency of presentation [6]. Followup MRI and 3D-MRA should be performed in long-term surviving patients who have undergone radiotherapy and whenever there are vessels in the surgical bed. We recommend
closer follow-up and/or endovascular treatment when aneurysm formation is suspected.
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