Is a vertebral artery dissection a stroke?
Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a rare cause of stroke in the general population, but one of the more common causes of stroke in patients younger than 45 years of age. Its signs and symptoms can be vague, making diagnosis difficult.
How does a vertebral artery dissection cause a stroke?
Obstruction of blood flow through the affected vessel may lead to dysfunction of part of the brain supplied by the artery. This happens in 77–96% of cases. This may be temporary (“transient ischemic attack”) in 10–16% of cases, but many (67–85% of cases) end up with a permanent deficit or a stroke.
What are the side effects of vertebral artery dissection?
The most common symptoms were dizziness/vertigo (58%), headache (51%) and neck pain (46%). Stroke was common (63%), especially with extracranial dissections (66% vs. 32%, p<0.0001), while TIA (14%) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (10%) were uncommon.
What is a vertebral artery stroke?
Vertebrobasilar strokes are interruptions of blood flow to the posterior circulation. While these types of strokes are relatively uncommon, they are a disproportionate cause of morbidity and mortality compared to anterior circulation strokes due to discreet symptoms that resemble non-stroke medical conditions.
How serious is an arterial dissection?
All aortic dissections can be life-threatening. They also cause serious health problems, including: Heart attack. Stroke.
How do you know if you have vertebral artery dissection?
In the case of vertebral artery disease, symptoms may be minimal or severe. Symptoms run the gamut from vertigo, nausea and vomiting, changes in level of consciousness, headache, and speech disturbance as well as obvious severe neurologic deficits.
What does a vertebral artery dissection feel like?
Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) usually presents with posterior headache or neck pain followed within hours or days by posterior circulation stroke. Rarely, the dissection may present with signs or symptoms referable only to the cervical spinal cord.
Is vertebral artery dissection an emergency?
Symptoms and Causes Sometimes a stroke is the first sign of cervical artery dissection and emergency treatment is required. More commonly, symptoms develop over a period of hours or days, even in patients who have traumatic injuries.
How do you treat a vertebral artery dissection?
First-line treatment for cervical artery dissection usually is antiplatelet agents (such as aspirin) or anti-coagulation to prevent the formation of blood clots. Antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin or clopidogrel may used alone or in combination.
How do you fix a vertebral artery dissection?
Can you feel a vertebral artery dissection?
Introduction. Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) usually presents with posterior headache or neck pain followed within hours or days by posterior circulation stroke. Rarely, the dissection may present with signs or symptoms referable only to the cervical spinal cord.
How do you check for vertebral artery dissection?
Computed tomography (CT) scanning – Identifies subarachnoid hemorrhage ; CT angiography (CTA), along with magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), are the imaging modalities of choice for vertebral artery dissections; however, CTA is less accurate in the presence of calcified arteries.