Publication:

An uncommon vascular swelling in a child: post traumatic pseudoaneurysm

Pseudo aneurysms of the superficial temporal artery (STA) are very rare (less than 1% of aneurysms), and usually occur after blunt head injury. It usually presents as a slow growing, pulsatile mass in the temporal area. Other symptoms that may occur are headache, ear pain, facial palsy or haemorrhage. Arteriography is the diagnostic investigation and computed tomography angiography will exclude other conditions such as arteriovenous malformation and fistula and confirm the diagnosis. Surgery with ligation of the proximal and the distal parts of the vessel and resection of the aneurysm is the treatment of choice. We report the case of a 10-year-old child, with a pseudo aneurysm of the STA secondary to trauma, who underwent surgical resection of the lesion with good outcome.