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Rare disease
CASE REPORT
Superficial temporal artery pseudoaneurysm following facial trauma
  1. James Johnston,
  2. Carl Mark Sullivan
  1. Interventional Radiology Department, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Carl Mark Sullivan, carlmsullivan{at}hotmail.com

Summary

A 68-year-old man presented with rapid swelling of the right forehead 11 days after sustaining a laceration secondary to a fall. Presumed to be an abscess due to retained foreign body, needle aspiration was performed and arterial blood obtained. Doppler ultrasound revealed a 3 cm mixed echogenicity lesion with ‘see-sawing’ internal Doppler flow arising from the superficial temporal artery (STA), in keeping with a pseudoaneurysm. Treatment options including interventional radiology and open surgery were considered. Open operative intervention with direct surgical ligation provided an excellent outcome. Delayed pseudoaneurysm of the STA is a rare complication of trauma but should be considered in the differential of a traumatic lateral forehead swelling to prevent complications and inappropriate investigations and management.

  • plastic and reconstructive surgery
  • oral and maxillofacial surgery
  • radiology
  • interventional radiology
  • trauma

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2018-224303

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Patient scanned, images taken and reported by CMS. Decision to submit as case report by CMS. Conception and conduct by CMS. Design as per BMJ case report stipulation. Images saved and edited by CMS. Abstract written by CMS, edited by JJ and final version concluded by CMS. Case presentation written by JJ, edited by CMS. Background written by CMS, literature search and referencing performed by CMS and JJ. Final version agreed by CMS and JJ, submitted by CMS. Photography obtained by Medical Photography Department, Morriston Hospital, with consent for photographs obtained from CMS and JJ. Verbal consent for case report obtained by CMS. Formal written consent obtained by JJ. Patient seen by CMS preoperatively, seen postoperatively by JJ. Revisions and replies to Editor by CMS. Both JJ and CMS have agreed with the final version of the manuscript prior to submission.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.