Anterior inferior cerebellar artery loop (Type III)

Case contributed by James Mirow
Diagnosis almost certain

Presentation

Increasing headaches and feeling unbalanced

Patient Data

Age: 20 years
Gender: Female

Axial T2 SPACE and time of flight angiography (TOF) sequences clearly demonstrate a vascular loop of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery into the right internal auditory canal (IAC) occupying up to at least 50% of the IAC. The right IAC is also found to be larger in diameter relative to the left IAC.

The annotated VR image - created using TOF base data - shows the arterial anatomy nicely, especially the branch's origin from the basilar artery.

Case Discussion

A good case demonstrating a Chavda type III1 vascular loop of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery into the right IAC.

Despite this finding, there is conflicting evidence as to whether it is causative of a patient's symptoms and therefore is likely an incidental finding1,2.

The main treatment option for suspected symptomatic vascular loop cases is microvascular compression, with a success rate as high as 80% 3.

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