Pediatric Vertebral Artery Dissection

  • Etiology: Blunt trauma
  • Imaging: Blood enters wall of vertebral artery through tear in intima and dissects along intima-media plane thus narrowing the lumen resulting in stenosis or occlusion of artery
  • DDX:
  • Complications:
  • Treatment:
  • Clinical:

Radiology Cases of Vertebral Artery Dissection

MRA of vertebral artery dissection after trauma
MRA with contrast of the neck in AP (left) and left oblique (middle) and right oblique (right) projections shows the right vertebral artery arises from the right subclavian artery and courses normally to where it enters the basilar artery. The left vertebral artery arises from the left subclavian artery but then is only faintly visualized along its course until it reconstitutes where it enters the basilar artery.