Posterior circulation infarction in patients with traumatic cervical spinal cord injury and its relationship to vertebral artery injury
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Maurizio Belci; D Briley; B McNeillis; L L de Heredia; Tom Meagher; David McKean; Sarah Yanny; Richard Hughes
- Source
- Spinal Cord. 53:125-129
- Subject
- Adult
Brain Infarction
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Vertebral artery
Infarction
Constriction, Pathologic
Young Adult
medicine.artery
Prevalence
medicine
Humans
Prospective Studies
Spinal cord injury
Stroke
Spinal Cord Injuries
Vertebral Artery
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
business.industry
Posterior circulation infarct
Brain
Cervical Cord
General Medicine
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Spinal cord
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Surgery
Stenosis
medicine.anatomical_structure
Neurology
Anesthesia
Female
Neurology (clinical)
Paraplegia
business
- Language
- ISSN
- 1476-5624
1362-4393
Prospective study. To ascertain the prevalence of posterior circulation stroke in traumatic chronic spinal cord injured (SCI) patients and associated traumatic vertebral artery injuries (VAI). All adult patients with cervical SCI and American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade A or B referred for follow-up magnetic resonance imaging of their spinal cord were invited to take part in the study between January 2010 and December 2012 at the National Spinal Injury Centre. Two additional sequences were added to the existing imaging protocol to evaluate the brain and vertebral arteries. Ninety-eight patients were recruited. All imaging were analysed independently by three consultant radiologists. Posterior circulation infarcts were noted in seven (7%) patients. Significant VAI was noted in 13 patients (13%) with 10 occlusions and 3 with high-grade stenosis. However, only one patient had co-existent posterior circulation infarct and significant VAI. There is an increased prevalence of posterior circulation infarction in SCI patients. The relationship with associated traumatic VAI requires further investigation.