abstract symptomatic basilar artery stenosis has a poor prognosis. surgical bypasses are technically demanding and of no proven benefit. a new generation of intravascular stents that are flexible enough to navigate the tortuosities of the vertebral artery may provide a new therapeutic approach. our two cases, 57 and 52 year-old men experienced a vertebrobasilar ischemia with repeated vertigo an...

vertebral artery is the first branch of subclavian artery. it merges with the same artery of the opposite side to form basilar artery and becomes one of the important source of blood supply to the brain. variation in the origin of left vertebral artery was found in 65 year old female during magnetic resonance angiography of the neck vessels. it originated from aortic arch and was longer as comp...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between collateral flow and outcome after local intraarterial thrombolytic treatment for basilar artery thrombosis. METHODS Twenty-four patients with symptomatic basilar thrombosis were treated with intraarterial urokinase. Angiograms at the time of treatment were analyzed to characterize collateral flow. The number ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE FLAIR-hyperintense vessels are known to be a sign of sluggish collateral blood flow in hemispheric vessel occlusion. Additionally, they seem to have a prognostic implication. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the hyperintense configuration of the basilar artery (FLAIR-hyperintense basilar artery) as a marker of basilar artery occlusion and as a predictor of pat...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Contrast-enhanced transcranial color-coded real-time sonography (TCCS) is a promising tool for the evaluation of brain circulation. The purpose of the present study was to assess the diagnostic ability of conventional and contrast-enhanced TCCS in patients with acute stroke and basilar artery occlusion and to compare the findings with those of angiography. METHODS We pr...

The basilar artery is one of the three major sources of blood supply to the circle of Willis. To investigate the effects of basilar artery occlusion, we surgically exposed and coagulated the basilar artery in 25 rats. Basilar artery occlusion at any single point between the foramen magnum and the circle of Willis in 11 rats did not produce histologically detectable infarcts in the brain at 12-2...

Vertebral artery is the first branch of subclavian artery. It merges with the same artery of the opposite side to form basilar artery and becomes one of the important source of blood supply to the brain. Variation in the origin of left vertebral artery was found in 65 year old female during magnetic resonance angiography of the neck vessels. It originated from aortic arch and was longer as ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hemodynamic insults at arterial bifurcations are hypothesized to play a key role in intracranial aneurysm formation. This study investigates aneurysm-initiating vascular responses at the rabbit basilar terminus subsequent to common carotid artery ligation. METHODS Nine adult female New Zealand white rabbits were subjected to sham, unilateral, or bilateral common carotid...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Pontine infarction is most often related to basilar artery atherosclerosis when the lesion abuts on the basal surface (paramedian pontine infarction), whereas small medial pontine lesion is usually attributed to small vessel lipohyalinosis. A previous study has found that high-resolution MRI can detect basilar atherosclerotic plaques in up to 70% of patient with paramedia...

Studies in vitro suggest that the basilar artery has distinctive responses to endothelium-dependent stimuli. Our first goal was to examine the effects of acetylcholine on diameter of the basilar artery in vivo. Because aggregating platelets may have important effects on cerebral arteries, our second goal was to examine the effects on the basilar artery of products that are released by platelets...