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Aneurysm of the extracranial internal carotid artery presenting as the syndrome of glossopharyngeal pain and syncope
  1. Y-M Lim1,
  2. S-A Lee1,
  3. D-K Kim2,
  4. G-E Kim2
  1. 1Department of Neurology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  2. 2Division of Vascular Surgery, Asan Medical Center
  1. Correspondence to:
 Dr Lee, Department of Neurology, Asan Medical Center, 388-1, Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 138-736, Korea;
 salee{at}www.amc.seoul.kr

https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.73.1.87

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    The syndrome of glossopharyngeal pain and/or syncope mimicking idiopathic glossopharyngeal neuralgia has been reported to be associated with a variety of intracranial or extracranial conditions1 including mass lesions in the parapharyngeal space,2,3 the elongated styloid process,4 and multiple sclerosis.5 However, aneurysm of the cervical portion of the internal carotid artery (ICA) presenting as episodic glossopharyngeal pain and syncope has not been reported previously to the best of our knowledge. We report here the first such case that was successfully treated by surgical resection of the aneurysm.

    A 66 year old woman with a two year history of paroxysmal attacks of pharyngeal pain with occasional syncopal episodes was admitted to our hospital. She had been in good health until two years previously, when she first noticed pain in the region of the left pharynx, sometimes with radiation to the ipsilateral ear and submandibular area. The pain was neither stabbing nor triggered by swallowing and eating. The attacks recurred about 10 times a day and lasted from several seconds to five minutes. During the year before admission, the attacks had become more …

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