2024 Volume 56 Issue 1 Pages 53-57
Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is characterized by thunderclap headache onset and multifocal segmental cerebral vasoconstriction. This syndrome is seen predominantly in women between 20 and 50 years old. Although its prognosis is good, there are various complications of RCVS, including intracerebral hemorrhaging, subarachnoid hemorrhaging (SAH), and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. Previously healthy 7- and 12-year-old boys developed cortical SAH after a thunderclap headache. Cranial computed tomography angiography and cranial magnetic resonance angiography indicated multifocal segmental cerebral vasoconstriction. RCVS was diagnosed from the clinical course and these neuroimaging findings. One was treated with calcium channel blockers, and neither had neurological sequelae. RCVS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pediatric patients complaining of thunderclap headaches or developing cortical SAH. It is important to perform neuroimaging studies serially for these patients.
