We report a rare case of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) caused by a ruptured vertebral artery (VA) dissecting aneurysm (DA) under severe COVID-19 treatment, and discuss the potential relationships. A 58-year-old woman with COVID-19 fell into severe pneumonia needing mechanical ventilation at 10 days post-onset (day 10). The patient had no risk factors for DA or stroke other than COVID-19 infection. At day 17 when weaning ventilatory management, her systolic blood pressure was transiently elevated, and her consciousness did not recover thereafter. Computed tomography (CT) at day 21 revealed SAH with modified Fisher grade 4, and CT angiography revealed a DA in the right VA just distal to the right posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA). The DA was treated emergently with internal trapping by endovascular coiling, while the right PICA was preserved. Postoperative course was uneventful, and 2-time negative SARS-CoV-2 PCR results were obtained at day 45. The patient recovered to 4-month modified Rankin Scale 2. Although it is not clear from the present case alone whether SARS-CoV-2 infection causes SAH by a ruptured VA DA, the accumulation of more cases and further studies are warranted to clarify the relationships between SARS-CoV-2 infection and ruptured intracranial DAs.

SUMMARY: We describe a case series of suspected metallic embolism after coil embolization for intracranial aneurysms. Between January 2012 and December 2014, 110 intracranial aneurysms had been treated by coil embolization in our institution. In 6 cases, the postprocedural MR imaging revealed abnormal spotty lesions not detected on the preprocedural MR imaging. The lesions were also undetectable on the postprocedural CT scan. They were demonstrated as low-intensity spots on T1WI, T2WI, DWI, and T2*-weighted imaging. On DWI, they were accompanied by bright “halo,” and on T2*-weighted imaging, they showed a “blooming” effect. In 3 of the 6 cases, follow-up MR imaging was available and all the lesions remained and demonstrated no signal changes. Although histologic examination had not been performed, these neuroradiologic findings strongly supported the lesions being from metallic fragments. No specific responsible device was detected after reviewing all the devices used for the neuroendovascular treatment in the 6 cases.