Ischemic stroke in a young patient with human immunodeficiency virus infection due to middle cerebral artery dissection: a case report / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Middle cerebral artery dissection is an uncommon cause of ischemic stroke in young adults, which is extremely rare in the case that it occurs in HIV-infected patients. This article reported a 26-year-old acute cerebral infarction patient with HIV antigen/antibody-positive who started with capsular warning syndrome and progressed to right basal ganglia cerebral infarction. The high-resolution vessel wall imaging showed the characteristic findings of middle cerebral artery dissection including "double luminal" and "intimal flap" signs. The coexistence of HIV-associated vasculopathy and hypertension with high blood pressure variability contributed to the occurrence of middle cerebral artery dissection in the patient. Combined with literature reports, this paper will further explore the relationship between HIV infection and cerebrovascular disease and the possible mechanism of middle cerebral artery dissection.