Unruptured Vertebral Artery Dissecting Aneurysms: Approach Strategy by Retrospective Analysis

Arash Dooghaie Moghadam¹, Ali Keipourfard² and Yasaman Arjmand^1,

¹Department of Radiology, Shohada Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

²Bone Joint and Related Tissue Research Center, Akhtar Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Cite this paper

Arash Dooghaie Moghadam, Ali Keipourfard and Yasaman Arjmand. Unruptured Vertebral Artery Dissecting Aneurysms: Approach Strategy by Retrospective Analysis. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2017; 5(8):202-204. doi: 10.12691/AJMCR-5-8-2

Abstract

Objectives: The natural course of un-ruptured vertebral artery dissecting aneurysms (VADAs) is not completely clear. We aim to retrospectively develop a strategy for treating un-ruptured VADAs based on long-term follow-up. Methods: We retrospectively studied 35 patients with un-ruptured VADAs. The initial symptom of 20 patients was headache, followed by ischemic symptoms and mass effect in 11 and 4 patients respectively. All of the patients underwent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) at the time of admission and 2 weeks and 1, 4, 6, 12, and 24 months after initial presentation. Asymptomatic patients with enlarging dissection site defined on MRI and MRA, received further treatment and work up. Results: Two patients received emergency intervention due to symptom exacerbation and unstable status. The other 33 patients underwent conservative management. Lesion enlargement was observed in 2 cases during imaging follow up. In follow up period, additional interventions including dissection trap by surgery and coil embolization were conducted in 1 and 3 patients respectively. Other 31 patients remain symptom free and were managed conservatively. Dissection site remained unchanged in majority of patients (68.57%), improved in 28.57% and disappeared in 2.85% of the patients. Ten patients with recurrent ischemic attacks underwent anti-platelet therapy, without any bleeding complaint or permanent neurological deficits. Conclusion: The nature of an un-ruptured VADA is not highly aggressive. However, enlarged dissection site without new manifestations, occlusion is recommended. Also, anti-platelet therapy is suggested in patients with recurrent ischemic attacks.

Keywords

vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm, magnetic resonance imaging, conservative treatment, recurrent ischemic attacks, anti-platelet therapy

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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