Ruptured intracranial dermoid cyst with infarction in the basal ganglia--case report.

A 32-year-old, right-handed man presented with chronic headache persisting for the past 5 years. On admission, neurological examination revealed mild papilledema and bitemporal defects of the visual fields. Computed tomography showed a hypodense lesion in the suprasellar region. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 2.2 x 2.4 x 2.5-cm heterogeneously hyperintense lesion in the suprasellar region and an infarct region in the right basal ganglia on the T(1)- and T(2)-weighted images. The lesion was subtotally removed because part of the capsule was tightly adherent to important surrounding neurovascular structures. Histological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of dermoid cyst. Ruptured intracranial dermoid cyst may manifest as infarction in the basal ganglia caused by localized arterial inflammatory reaction combined with compression of the right internal carotid artery.