Coma Due to Artery of Percheron Infarction: An Unusual Case Report

Ischemic stroke attributable to obstruction of the artery of Percheron (AOP), an infrequent anatomical arterial variant perfusing both medial thalami, can pose difficult diagnostic challenges. Obstruction or occlusion of the AOP results in bilateral paramedian thalamic infarction which is an unusual and rare vascular cause of coma. We present a 65-year-old male patient who came to the emergency department with altered sensorium for 10 days. The initial computed tomography (CT) brain was normal, followed by subsequent CT revealing an ill-defined hypodensity in the ventromedial aspect of the left thalamus and ventral aspect of the midbrain. T2/fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging illustrated hyperintensity in the mesencephalon and bilateral paramedian thalami with restricted diffusion, suggesting an AOP infarct.