[A case of aortitis syndrome associated with hypertensive intracranial hemorrhage (author's transl)].

A case of aortitis syndrome associated with hypertensive intracranial hemorrhage is reported. A 38-year-old female was admitted in 1980 suffering from hypertension and blood pressure difference between the left and right arms which had existed for 10 years. Two weeks prior to admission, she noticed weakness and numbness of the right arm and leg. She was orientated and alert at the time of admission. Her right upper and lower extremities could not function with full strength against resistance. Also, right hemihypesthesia and hemiparesthesia were present. Left arm systolic blood pressure was 195 mmHg. Her pulse was palpable in both radial arteries. CT scans revealed a small high density area in the posterior crus of the internal capsule with a slight mass effect. There was no ventricular dilatation. She was given conservative treatment, such as with antihemorrhagic and antihypertensive drugs, and was discharged with good recovery after three months. Various studies were performed during her hospital stay. Based on angiographic findings, the most probable diagnosis was an extensive type of aortitis syndrome. Hypertension resulted from narrowing of the abdominal aorta and the right renal artery. Pulmonary scintiscanning using 99mTc-macroaggregated albumin revealed that her pulmonary arteries were also involved. Aortitis syndrome is not infrequent, but intracranial hemorrhage following after aortitis syndrome is rare. This may be because the carotid artery is involved in a high incidence of such cases, and therefore the intracranial blood flow is disturbed in most cases. Although the left common carotid artery was involved in the subject case, hypertensive intracranial hemorrhage occurred in the left posterior crus of the internal capsule. In a case of aortitis syndrome, therapy resulting in recirculation to the carotid artery involved is generally carried out in order to improve poor intracranial blood flow. However, it is suggested that control of blood pressure is necessary to prevent intracranial hemorrhage in aortitis syndrome.