BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Bilateral vertebrobasilar junction agenesis is an exceptional anatomic variation. This article explores the angiographic characteristics of this variant and its embryologic mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two observations of bilateral agenesis of the vertebrobasilar junction are reported. A case of atheromatous disease of the vertebrobasilar junction is shown to highl...

A significant but less recognized cause of ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) is atherosclerosis of the vertebrobasilar system, which accounts for 20% of ischemic strokes. Pathology of the vertebrobasilar system can present significant challenges in determining the course of treatment. Due to the complexity of the vertebrobasilar system, there is slight disagreement about how t...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The aim of this retrospective study was to report the incidence, clinical presentation, and midterm clinical and imaging results of endovascular treatment of 10 aneurysms of the vertebrobasilar junction. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between January 1995 and January 2007, 2112 aneurysms were treated in our institution. Ten aneurysms in 10 patients were located on the vertebroba...

Neurological, CT and high-field (1.5T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were correlated in 6 patients previously clinically diagnosed as having suffered small vertebrobasilar infarct. MRI demonstrated infarcts in areas where CT was nearly always negative. MRI allowed very precise clinico-topographic correlations and appears to be the preferred imaging technique in vertebrobasilar infarcts.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE MRA) is a proven diagnostic tool in evaluation of the carotid arteries; however, few studies have addressed its accuracy in the vertebrobasilar system. The purpose of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of CE MRA compared with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for detection of vertebrobasilar disease. METHODS...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to determine the clinical and neuroradiological features of intracranial vertebrobasilar artery dissection. METHODS The clinical features and MR findings of 31 patients (20 men and 11 women) with intracranial vertebrobasilar artery dissections confirmed by vertebral angiography were analyzed retrospectively. The vertebral angiography revealed the double lumen ...

Of the many causes of vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI), extrinsic compression of the vertebral artery (VA) is relatively uncommon. A syndrome of VBI caused by extrinsic compression of the VA secondary to head rotation has been termed positional vertebrobasilar ischemia. The authors present a case of transient VBI caused by herniation of a cervical disc. Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography w...

Persistent primitive lateral vertebrobasilar (PPLVB) anastomosis is a rare remnant of early fetal development whose occurrence, to our knowledge, has been reported only once. We now report a new variant in which the basilar artery was fed primarily by a PPLVB anastomosis because on one side the vertebrobasilar junction was incompletely developed and on the other it was aplastic. Aneurysmal rupt...

Forty-six patients with typical hemifacial spasm had CT. Thirty-eight (83%) were abnormal, including two with surgically documented tumors. Thirty-six had a characteristic dolichoectatic vertebrobasilar artery, with the convexity pointing to the side of the spasm in 92% of the scans. This study suggests that CT is worthwhile procedure in the evaluation of hemifacial spasm and that dolichoectati...