LETTERS
Medulla compression caused by vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia
Compressão medular causada por dolicoectasia vertebrobasilar
Pedro Enrique Jiménez CaballeroI; Ignacio Casado NaranjoII
IFacultativo Especialista en Neurología, Departamento de Neurología, Hospital San Pedro de Alcántara, Espanha
IIJefe de Sección, Departamento de Neurología, Hospital San Pedro de Alcántara, Espanha
Correspondence Correspondence: Pedro Enrique Jiménez Caballero Departamento de Neurología; Hospiral San Pedro de Alcántara Avenida Pablo Naranjo s/n 10003 Cáceres - Espanha E-mail: pjimenez1010j@yahoo.es
Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) is a distinct arteriopathy characterized by elongation and dilatation of basilar and vertebral arteries. Prevalence is estimated to be 0.05%1.
VBD may be asymptomatic or associated with clinical manifestations, such as posterior circulation stroke, intracranial bleeding, cranial nerve disorders, compression of brainstem or obstructive hydrocephalus2. Medullary compression by the vertebral artery (VA) is a little known clinical entity in the medical literature.
CASES REPORT
A 53-year-old man presented to our outpatient department with complaints of slurring of speech and dizziness with imbalance while walking since eight months. He had not risk factors and was ruled out polycystic kidney disease. On examination, he had left Horner syndrome, dysarthria, mild left limb ataxia and bilateral pyramidalism with right babinsky sign. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with angiography (Fig 1 and 2) revealed
Received 10 November 2011
Received in final form 09 December 2011
Accepted 16 December 2011
Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest to declare.
- 1. Caplan LR. Dilatative arteriopathy (dolichoectasia): what is known and not known. Ann Neurol 2005;57:469-471.
- 2. Passero SG, Rossi S. Natural history of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia. Neurology 2008;70:66-72.
- 3. Savitz SI, Ronthal M, Caplan LR. Vertebral artery compression of the medulla. Arch Neurol 2006;63:234-241.
- 4. Gutierrez J, Sacco RL, Wright CB. Dolichoectasia - an evolving arterial disease. Neurology 2011;7:41-50.
- 5. Gupta D, George UB, Pandian JD. Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia and a tale of two brothers. Neurol India 2010;58:810-812.
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
15 May 2012 -
Date of issue
May 2012