Cerebral Artery Dissection: Spectrum of Clinical Presentations Related to Angiographic Findings

PURPOSE Cerebral arterial dissections are recognized as a common cause of stroke. However, few studies have reported on the distribution of cerebral arterial dissection and angiographic pattern related to the presenting clinical symptom pattern. We analyzed the distribution of cerebral artery dissection along with angiographic and clinical presenting a pattern as depicted on angiograms. MATERIALS AND METHODS From January 2000 to January 2007, 133 arterial dissection patients admitted to our institutes were retrospectively reviewed. The characteristic angiographic findings of all cerebral arteries were carefully evaluated on 4-vessel angiograms. The male-female ratio was 77: 56 and the mean age was 51 years. According to the angiographic finding depicting the location of the dissection plane in the arterial wall, we categorized to steno-occlusive, aneurysmal, combined and unclassifiable pattern. In each dissection pattern, we evaluated presenting symptoms and presence of infarction or hemorrhage. RESULTS The most common symptom on presentation was headache (47%), followed by motor weakness of arm or leg (31%), dysarthria/aphasia (19%) and vertigo (16%). The most common angiographic pattern was steno-occlusive (46%), followed by combined (steno-occlusive and aneurismal) (27%) and aneurysmal (22%) patterns. Steno-occlusive pattern was most commonly related to infarction (33/61, 54%) in contrast that aneurysmal pattern was most frequently related to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (7/29, 24%). The most frequent abnormality in patients with dissection of the intradural vertebral arteries including posterior cerebral artery (PCA) was SAH (23/70, 33%), followed by infarction. Infarction was the most common abnormality in patients with the extradural and intradural carotid arteries, and the extradural vertebral artery. CONCLUSION In contrast that the extradural arterial dissections tended to result in ischemia with steno-occlusive pattern, the intradural arterial dissections tended to result in SAH with aneurysmal type, especially in the vertebral artery. Dissection requires combined analysis of angiographic pattern and type of stroke depending on the location.