A 33-year-old man arrived at a Tunisian hospital within three hours of losing the use of his right side and the ability to speak. His stroke severity score was 21, near the top of the scale. His blood pressure was 200/124. He had been on hemodialysis for three years for kidney failure caused by long-standing hypertension, but he had no diabetes, no atrial fibrillation, and no prior stroke.
The CT angiogram showed a blockage in the proximal left middle cerebral artery. It was not a blood clot. On the non-contrast scan, the object measured roughly 850 Hounsfield units, a density consistent with bone, not blood. The case was published in March 2026 in the European Heart Journal Case Reports.
