How do you treat an artery dissection?
Treatment. Treatment is usually with blood thinners such as warfarin or low molecular weight heparin for 3 to 6 months followed by aspirin therapy.
How long does it take for artery dissection to heal?
Healing usually takes 3-6 months, and the incidence of contralateral dissection is higher in these patients than in the general population. When the condition is diagnosed early, the prognosis is usually good.
What happens if the vertebral artery is cut?
After the tear, blood enters the arterial wall and forms a blood clot, thickening the artery wall and often impeding blood flow. The symptoms of vertebral artery dissection include head and neck pain and intermittent or permanent stroke symptoms such as difficulty speaking, impaired coordination and visual loss.
Is vertebral artery dissection fatal?
For those patients that survive the initial dissection, the prognosis is usually good. Approximately 10% of patients die initially. In one clinical follow-up study, 80% achieved a full recovery. Death is typically secondary to extensive intracranial dissection, brainstem infarction, or subarachnoid hemorrhage.
What does a vertebral artery dissection feel like?
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.
Do vertebral artery dissections heal?
Most dissections of the vertebral arteries heal spontaneously and especially, extracranial VADs generally carry a good prognosis.
How do you know if you have a vertebral artery dissection?
How do you know if you have a torn artery in your neck?
Some of the main symptoms of carotid artery dissection include a bad headache and pain in your face and neck. You might also have problems with your sight including losing it completely for a while, but it should come back. Other symptoms include migraine symptoms and a drooping eyelid, which can be very painful.
How common is vertebral artery compression?
Vertebral artery compression of the upper spinal cord is an extremely rare cause of cervical myelopathy. To the best of our knowledge, a total of 15 patients with cervical myelopathy due to vertebral artery compression have been reported in the literature (18).
Can a left vertebral artery be dissected?
An MRI was performed and was significant for numerous right cerebellar lacunar infarcts. A CT angiogram was performed, demonstrating left vertebral artery dissection. Discussion: Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is one of the most common causes of stroke in patients under the age of 45.
How are carotid and vertebral artery dissections treated?
The treatment of carotid and vertebral artery dissections is based on rather incomplete evidence. Anticoagulation with heparin followed by warfarin remains the treatment of choice in most major medical centers and is supported by the demonstration of emboli as the most common cause of stroke in these patients.
When do spontaneous dissections of the vertebral artery occur?
The majority of spontaneous dissections occur in segment 3, which may extend and involve segment 4. The arterial anatomy consists of three layers named the intimal (innermost), the media (middle), and the adventitia (outermost layer). Dissection occurs when the structural integrity of the arterial wall is compromised.
Is the vertebral artery an extracranial or intracranial dissection?
Vertebral artery dissection can be either extracranial or intracranial. Extracranial dissections usually involve the distal extracranial segment near the atlas and axis. Intracranial dissections are often associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage and carry a much worse prognosis.