Abstract
Although the carotid artery stump as an embolic source for ischemic stroke has been
well described, there have been few systematic reports of a similar syndrome in the
posterior circulation (PC) after vertebral artery (VA) origin occlusion. The aim of
this study was to identify the incidence and characteristics of acute ischemic stroke
with VA stump syndrome. Of 3463 consecutive patients who were admitted within 7 days after onset, 865 patients with acute ischemic stroke in the PC were enrolled.
The diagnostic criteria of VA stump syndrome included: (1) acute ischemic stroke in
the posterior circulation; (2) the VA origin occlusion identified on MRA, duplex ultrasound,
CT angiography, and/or conventional angiography; (3) presence of distal antegrade
flow in the ipsilateral VA; and (4) absence of other causes of ischemic stroke. Of
the 865 patients with PC stroke, 12 (1.4%) were diagnosed as having VA stump syndrome.
The ischemic lesions included the cerebellum in all patients. Nine patients had multiple
ischemic lesions in the brain stem, thalamus, or posterior lobe other than cerebellum.
On duplex ultrasound, a to-and-fro flow pattern was observed in the culprit VA in
10 patients. Three patients had recurrences of ischemic stroke in the PC during the
acute phase. VA stump syndrome was not a rare mechanism of PC stroke, and there was
a high rate of stroke recurrence during the acute phase. Vascular assessment by a
multimodality approach can be used to promptly detect VA stump syndrome.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 29, 2012
Accepted:
October 11,
2012
Received in revised form:
September 24,
2012
Received:
August 3,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
