Internal carotid artery origin of the anterior cerebral artery: A rare anatomic intracranial arterial variation in a child with morning glory disc anomaly and moyamoya vascular pattern; case report and review of literature

Abstract

Morning glory disc anomaly (MGDA) characterizes a congenital dysgenetic disorder of the optic disc, coexisting with arterial intracranial abnormalities, including Moyamoya vascular disease, a significantly rare disease in the European populations. We report a 2.5-year-old female child from Greece previously diagnosed with MGDA, who presented with right-hand paresis, accompanied by focal epileptic spasms, followed by an episode of brief absence seizure, as well as some arm clonic spasms. Magnetic resonance angiography scan revealed the presence of an anomalous origin of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) from the internal carotid artery (ICA) along with vascular abnormalities, compatible with Moyamoya pattern. To the very best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of anomalous origin of ACA from the supraclinoid ICA accompanied by severe occlusive intracranial disease (moyamoya-like pattern) in a patient with known MGDA, highlighting the embryonic character of the vascular manifestations in MGDA. It also verifies the association of Moyamoya pattern with MGDA, thus linking vascular dysgenesis as a possible cause of MGDA.