Review article: Non-penetrating neck artery dissection in young adults: Not to be missed!

Young adults who present to the ED with neck pain following non-penetrating, seemingly trivial trauma to the neck, are at risk of neck artery dissection and subsequent stroke. Sport-related neck injury is the chief cause. Physical examination may often be unremarkable, and although there may be reluctance to expose young patients to radiation, radiological imaging is central to making a diagnosis of arterial wall disruption. A comprehensive literature search was performed in relation to neck artery dissection, and the evidence was scrutinised. We discuss the typical mechanism of injury, symptoms, anatomical considerations and clinical aids in diagnosis of neck artery dissection. Although the incidence is low, neck artery dissection has a mortality of 7%. As such, it is important for front-line physicians to have a high suspicion of the diagnosis and a low threshold to organise radiological examinations, specifically computerised tomography. Early detection of neck artery dissection will trigger clinical protocols that call for multi-disciplinary team management of this condition. In general, guideline-based recommendation for the management of neck artery dissection involving an intimal flap is by anti-platelet therapy while treatment of neck artery dissection that results in a pseudo-aneurysm or thrombosis is managed by surgical intervention or endovascular techniques. Close follow up combined with antithrombotic treatment is recommended in these individuals, the goal being prevention of stroke.

Rare presentation of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia requiring bilateral above-knee amputations: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia is a rarely encountered B-lymphocytic malignancy. Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia-associated paraproteinaemia is linked to an increase in serum viscosity, which results in a hypercoagulable state. Burning bilateral foot pain in a man with alcohol dependence and controlled atrial fibrillation presenting to the emergency department was attributed to peripheral neuropathy, given satisfactory angiographic evidence of bilateral foot arterial blood supply. Subsequently, his presentation as an emergency with acute bilateral critical lower limb ischemia that was managed by bilateral above-knee amputations, prompted a wider search for other etiologies. We present a hitherto unreported case of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia-related acute bilateral lower limb ischemia, which required bilateral above-knee amputations. CASE PRESENTATION: A 50-year-old Caucasian man, who was an alcohol dependent heavy smoker, presented with burning pain in his right foot that was deemed to be related to alcoholic neuropathy. A computerized tomographic angiogram demonstrated an occluded right distal anterior tibial artery but a patent posterior tibial artery supplying the foot arch, findings that were associated with noncritical ischemia. After multiple presentations within a week, he was admitted following sudden clinical deterioration with acute confusion, hyponatremia, and bilateral foot pain. Over the course of 24 hours, the patient deteriorated rapidly, with bilateral lower limb ischemia requiring bilateral above-knee amputations. Subsequent investigations revealed a diagnosis of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the only reported case of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia-induced bilateral lower limb ischemia requiring major bilateral amputations.