Transient Perivascular Inflammation of the Carotid Artery Syndrome: Two Case Reports

Abstract

　Transient Perivascular Inflammation of the Carotid artery (TIPIC) is a syndrome of unknown cause which is characterized by unilateral neck tenderness and pain and improves spontaneously within a few weeks. In 2017, Lecler et al. published a clinicoradiological description of the entity, called TIPIC syndrome, diagnosed based on the presence of four main criteria: acute pain over the carotid artery, which may or may not radiate to the head, evidence of eccentric perivascular infiltration on imaging, exclusion of other conditions by imaging, improvement within 14 days, either spontaneously or in response to anti-inflammatory drug treatment.

　We report 2 patients with clinical signs and symptoms consistent with TIPIC syndrome. The patients were a 63-year-old man and 58-year-old man who presented with a history of pain and tenderness of the neck. Ultrasonography revealed thickening of the wall of the carotid artery, and contrast-enhanced CT showed soft tissue thickening around the carotid bifurcation. The patients were diagnosed as having TIPIC syndrome and immediately started on treatment with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs. The symptoms resolved within about a week in both patients and follow-up imaging revealed regression of the carotid wall thickening.