CASE REPORT A 78-year-old man experienced 2 short-lasting episodes of vertigo with unstable gait during the 5 days before admission. One week previously, he had carried large fiberboard panels, involving sustained rotation of the neck in both directions. His past medical history included arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia. The initial general and neurologic examination was normal except for...

AIM To assess morphometrically the structural changes, which occur with ageing, along the length of the vertebral artery. METHODS A series of 36 vessels were removed at necropsy from subjects aged between 9 months and 86 years. Image analysis was used to measure the medial width, the circumference, the intimal: medial area ratio and the adventitial: medial area ratio along each artery. The ar...

patients are asymptomatic.1 The syndrome of subclavian steal caused by an occlusive lesion of the aberrant subclavian artery is a rare clinical finding.1-4 This syndrome results from the abnormal flow of blood due to the occlusion in the subclavian artery proximal to the origin of the vertebral artery. Blood flow through the vertebral artery is consequently reversed and the subclavian one thus ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to describe typical ultrasonographic findings of vertebral arteries in patients affected by giant cell arteritis. METHODS Color duplex sonography was used to asses the cervical arteries within 24 hours from stroke onset in 1237 patients. Vertebral arteritis was considered if concentric, homogeneous, and smooth hypoechogenic mural thickening...

BACKGROUND Responses of cerebral blood flow to the postural unloading maneuver in aortic stenosis (AS) have not been described so far. Our aim was to assess effects of orthostatic stress test on changes of carotid and vertebral artery blood flow and transaortic gradients. METHODS From consecutive 101 AS patients we selected 50 patients with severe isolated AS. Maximal and mean transaortic pre...

A prospective blind comparison was completed between duplex sonography and angiography of the vertebral arteries. Thirty-two vertebral arteries were studied for direction of flow, degree of origin plaque or stenosis, Doppler characteristics, and vessel size. The vertebral arteries were reliably identified by imaging their course from the subclavian artery into the transverse foramina and by ide...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We investigated the predictors and time course for recanalization after vertebral artery dissection. METHODS We prospectively studied 61 consecutive patients with confirmed diagnoses of vertebral artery dissection without intracerebral hemorrhage. Neuroimaging and clinical follow-up were performed at presentation and at 3, 6, and 12 months. RESULTS We included 61 pati...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Dissection of vertebral arteries has been reported in association with minor neck movements without signs of trauma on the surface of the neck. In addition, injury of a vertebral artery can cause brain infarctions. However, few cases have been reported in which fatal brain infarction was due to nonocclusive, clinically undetected, traumatic thrombus formation in a vertebr...

Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is not uncommon in the young adult population. Owing to the various clinical manifestations; the diagnosis of VAD mainly depends on imaging examinations. Ultrasound has found an increasingly wide utilization in the diagnosis of VAD because of the continuous improvement in the resolution of ultrasonic instruments and accessibility.We retrospectively collected th...

Cervical vertebral AV fistulae are uncommon vascular lesions involving abnormal communication between the extradural vertebral artery and surrounding venous structures. We examine the case of a female evaluated in the emergency department with a vertebral AV fistula presenting classically as pulsatile tinnitus and later successfully treated with standard endovascular techniques. A discussion on...