What causes a basilar artery tear?
Most basilar artery strokes are caused by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The second-leading cause is clots. Leading risk factors for basilar artery strokes are high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease.
How does Artery Dissection occur?
Cervical artery dissection also can occur in the general population as a result of blunt trauma injury to the neck, such as a high-speed car accident or a fall, with chiropractic manipulation, or from hyperextension of the neck in sports or exercise.
Can stress cause vertebral artery dissection?
Brain-supplying arterial dissection is considered one of the most common vascular causes of stroke in younger patients. Dissections are usually preceded by trauma or mechanical stress; the vascular stressor may be trivial as this condition has been described in association with manipulation and stretching the neck.
What causes bilateral vertebral artery dissection?
Bilateral vertebral artery dissection has been reported in multiple scenarios including subarachnoid hemorrhage, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), sports related, in association with osteogenesis imperfecta, as the initial presentation of Cushing’s syndrome, trampoline use, cervical spine manipulation.
What is basilar artery dissection?
Basilar artery dissections (BADs) are rare lesions and little is known about its natural history. The clinical presentations of BADs are subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), brain ischemia, and brainstem compression. Ruptured BADs presenting with SAH seemed to have higher mortality rate than unruptured ones.
Does stress cause SCAD?
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) has emerged as an important cause of acute coronary syndrome and sudden cardiac death. The triggers for SCAD often do not include traditional atherosclerotic risk factors. The most commonly reported triggers are extreme physical or emotional stress.
How common is arterial dissection?
The annual incidence of symptomatic spontaneous internal carotid artery dissection is 2.5-3 per 100,000. The incidence of carotid artery dissection as a result of blunt injuries (mainly high-speed motor vehicle accidents) ranges from less than 1% to 3%.
Is artery dissection rare?
What is artery Dissection?
Arterial dissection refers to the abnormal, and usually abrupt, formation of a tear along the inside wall of an artery.
What causes the formation of the basilar artery?
The formation of the basilar artery is initiated by the growing brainstem and occipital lobe. Tributaries arising from the internal carotid artery and vertebral arteries all contribute to the formation of the basilar artery. Worried about remembering all the arteries of the Circle of Willis?
What happens when an artery is dissectioned?
Large dissections, however, can completely close the artery, stopping downstream blood flow. Unless blood can get around the closed segment through other arteries and continue supplying the brain, a stroke will happen. Some dissections can tear through the artery wall completely, leading to a through-and-through tear, or rupture.
What are the possible complications of basilar artery occlusion?
An occlusion of the basilar artery can have debilitating implications, such as speech difficulties, visual disturbances, cranial nerve palsies and altered consciousness. This article will review the gross anatomy and development of the basilar artery, including the course of its branches.
Does the basilar artery supply blood to the ear?
Along with CN VII and CN VIII, the artery traverses the internal acoustic meatus to supply the internal ear. The basilar artery also gives off numerous pontine arteries from its lateral surface (bilaterally) as well as posteromedial (paramedian) arteries from the distal bifurcation.