Abstract
Tortuosity most often occurs in the elderly or in the setting of atherosclerosis, but it also occurs in the uncommon patient with a collagen vascular disorder. The vertebral arteries can be tortuous at their origins or throughout the remainder of their course in the cervical and intracranial portions, and they can be particularly troublesome for interpretation or procedures in several scenarios.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Songur A, Gonul Y, Ozen OA, Kucuker H, Uzun I, Bas O, Toktas M. Variations in the intracranial vertebrobasilar system. Surg Radiol Anat. 2008;30:257–64.
Pico F, Labreuche J, Hauw JJ, Seilhean D, Duyckaerts C, Amarenco P. Coronary and basilar artery ectasia are associated: results from an autopsy case–control study. Stroke. 2016;47:224–7.
Matsukawa H, Shinoda M, Fujii M, Uemura A, Takahashi O, Niimi Y. Basilar dolichoectasia and the spontaneous intradural vertebral artery dissection. Brain Inj. 2016;30:90–4.
Yuan F, Lin J, Ding L, Chao Y, Wenke L, Heng Z. Hemifacial spasm and recurrent stroke due to vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia coexisting with saccular aneurysm of the basilar artery: a case report. Turk Neurosurg. 2013;23:282–4.
Park JM, Koo JS, Kim BK, Kwon O, Lee JJ, Kang K, et al. Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia as a risk factor for cerebral microbleeds. Eur J Neurol. 2013;20:824–30.
Passero SG, Calchetti B, Bartalini S. Intracranial bleeding in patients with vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia. Stroke. 2005;36:1421–5.
Takeuchi S, Takasato Y, Masaoka H, Hayakawa T, Otani N, Yoshino Y, et al. Dolichoectasia involving the vertebrobasilar and carotid artery systems. J Clin Neurosci. 2009;16:1344–6.
Kumral E, Kisabay A, Ataç C, Kaya C, Calli C. The mechanism of ischemic stroke in patients with dolichoectatic basilar artery. Eur J Neurol. 2005;12:437–44.
Tanaka M, Sakaguchi M, Miwa K, Okazaki S, Furukado S, Yagita Y, et al. Basilar artery diameter is an independent predictor of incident cardiovascular events. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2013;33:2240–4.
Borioni R, Garofalo M, Actis Dato GM, Pierri MD, Caprara E, Albano P, Chiariello L. Kinking of internal carotid artery: is it a risk factor for cerebro-vascular damage in patients undergoing cardiac surgery? J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino). 1994;35:325–6.
Togay-Işikay C, Kim J, Betterman K, Andrews C, Meads D, Tesh P, et al. Carotid artery tortuosity, kinking, coiling: stroke risk factor, marker, or curiosity? Acta Neurol Belg. 2005;105:68–72.
Van Damme H, Gillain D, Désiron Q, Detry O, Albert A, Limet R. Kinking of the internal carotid artery: clinical significance and surgical management. Acta Chir Belg. 1996;96:15–22.
Ballotta E, Abbruzzese E, Thiene G, Bottio T, Dagiau G, Angelini A, Saladini M. The elongation of the internal carotid artery: early and long-term results of patients having surgery compared with unoperated controls. Ann Vasc Surg. 1997;11:120–8.
Pancera P, Ribul M, Presciuttini B, Lechi A. Prevalence of carotid artery kinking in 590 consecutive subjects evaluated by Echo color doppler. Is there a correlation with arterial hypertension? J Intern Med. 2000;248:7–12.
Ovchinnikov NA, Rao RT, Rao SR. Unilateral congenital elongation of the cervical part of the internal carotid artery with kinking and looping: two case reports and review of the literature. Head Face Med. 2007;3:29.
Paulsen F, Tillmann B, Christofides C, Richter W, Koebke J. Curving and looping of the internal carotid artery in relation to the pharynx: frequency, embryology and clinical implications. J Anat. 2000;197:373–81.
Koreckij J, Alvi H, Gibly R, Pang E, Hsu WK. Incidence and risk factors of the retropharyngeal carotid artery on cervical magnetic resonance imaging. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2013;38:E109–12.
Ozgur Z, Celik S, Govsa F, Aktug H, Ozgur T. A study of the course of the internal carotid artery in the parapharyngeal space and its clinical importance. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2007;264:1483–9.
Lukins DE, Pilati S, Escott EJ. The moving carotid artery: a retrospective review of the retropharyngeal carotid artery and the incidence of positional changes on serial studies. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2016;37:336–41.
Fard SA, Patel AS, Avila MJ, Sattarov KV, Walter CM, Skoch J, Baaj AA. Anatomic considerations of the anterior upper cervical spine during decompression and instrumentation: a cadaveric based study. J Clin Neurosci. 2015;22:1810–5.
Muñoz A, Campollo J, Vergas J. Bilateral internal carotid aneurysms presenting as a nonpulsatile parapharyngeal mass: complementary diagnosis by CT, MR imaging, and digital subtraction angiography. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2001;22:864–6.
Chan K, Richards PS, Dilkes MG. Internal carotid artery ectasia: the value of imaging studies prior to biopsy of a retropharyngeal mass. J Surg Case Rep. 2010;2010:4.
Mangrum WI, Huston 3rd J, Link MJ, Wiebers DO, McClelland RL, Christianson TJ, Flemming KD. Enlarging vertebrobasilar nonsaccular intracranial aneurysms: frequency, predictors, and clinical outcome of growth. J Neurosurg. 2005;102:72–9.
Yasui T, Komiyama M, Iwai Y, Yamanaka K, Nishikawa M, Morikawa T. Evolution of incidentally-discovered fusiform aneurysms of the vertebrobasilar arterial system: neuroimaging features suggesting progressive aneurysm growth. Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo). 2001;41:523–7; discussion 528.
Savitz SI, Ronthal M, Caplan LR. Vertebral artery compression of the medulla. Arch Neurol. 2006;63:234–41.
Ho SL, Cheng PW, Wong WC, Chan FL, Lo SK, Li LS, et al. A case-controlled MRI/MRA study of neurovascular contact in hemifacial spasm. Neurology. 1999;53:2132–9.
Levy EI, Scarrow AM, Jannetta PJ. Microvascular decompression in the treatment of hypertension: review and update. Surg Neurol. 2001;55:2–11.
Lasjaunias P, Berenstein A, Ter Brugge KG. Surgical Neuroangiography, Clinical Vascular Anatomy and Variations. 2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag; 2001.
Roll JD, Urban MA, Larson TC, et al. Bilateral aberrant internal carotid arteries with bilateral persistent stapedial arteries and bilateral duplicated internal carotid arteries. AJNR. 2003;24:762–5.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McKinney, A.M. (2017). Tortuous Cervical and Intracranial Arteries and Basilar-Carotid Dolichoectasia. In: Atlas of Normal Imaging Variations of the Brain, Skull, and Craniocervical Vasculature . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39790-0_34
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39790-0_34
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39789-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39790-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)