Introduction
Carotidodynia or Fay’ syndrome is characterized as neck pain near the
carotid bifurcation (1). Three main differential diagnoses can be
responsible for carotidodynia : carotid dissection, cervical
osteoarthritis and large vessel vasculitis ie Takayasu disease, giant
cell arteritis. The definition of carotidodynia has evolved in the past
century: initially classified in the International Classification of
Headache Disorders (ICHD) in 1988 and then declassified due to
unspecific clinical signs in 2004 (2).
Over the last decade, reports of perivascular inflammation of the
carotid artery have been described in patients with neck pain called
TIPIC syndrome: Transient Perivascular Inflammation of the Carotid
Artery. The diagnostic criteria for this rare vascular disorder were
established by Lecler et al. in 2017 : acute neck pain directly around
the level of the carotid bifurcation, eccentric pericarotidian
infiltration on imaging, exclusion of another vascular or nonvascular
diagnosis with imaging and improvement within 14 days either
spontaneously or with anti-inflammatory treatment (1). A recent
multicenter retrospective study of 72 patients with TIPIC syndrome
confirmed the benign nature of this disorder and that recurrence may
occur in up to 20% of cases (Micieli E et al. Transient perivascular
inflammation of the carotid artery (TIPIC) syndrome; Vasa 2022).
However, TIPIC pathophysiology and triggers remain poorly understood.
We report herein the case of a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patient
with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) induced TIPIC
syndrome.