What does Dolichoectatic mean?
The term dolichoectasia means dilated and elongated. It is used to characterize arteries that have shown a significant deterioration of their tunica intima (and occasionally the tunica media), weakening the vessel walls and causing the artery to elongate and distend.
What causes dolichoectasia?
Dolichoectasia is associated with hypertension, older age, and male sex; it is also reportedly associated with heritable connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome and Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (2).
What does the vertebral basilar artery supply?
The basilar artery (BA) serves as the main conduit for blood flow through the posterior circulation. It directly supplies the brainstem and cerebellum and provides distal blood flow to the thalami and medial temporal and parietal lobes.
What happens if the basilar artery is blocked?
Most commonly, patients experiencing basilar artery occlusion exhibit acute neurologic signs including motor deficits, hemiparesis or quadriparesis, and facial palsies, dizziness, headache, and speech abnormalities–especially dysarthria and difficulty articulating words.
What is a tortuous basilar artery?
Dolichoectasia of vertebrobasilar artery is a condition in which the vertebral/basilar artery is elongated, distended and tortuous. It is usually asymptomatic. It may present with compressive or ischemic symptoms. Hydrocephalus as a complication of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia is rare.
Is Dolichoectasia hereditary?
In rare instances, an underlying hereditary condition, connective tissue disorder, or infection predispose to the development of IADE. However, most cases are sporadic and associated with traditional vascular risk factors including advanced age, male gender, and arterial hypertension.
What is basilar Dolichoectasia?
Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) is a condition characterized by ectasia, elongation and tortuosity of the basilar artery. It may manifest clinically by compression of the cranial nerves, ischemic symptoms or intracranial bleeding.
What is the function of the vertebral artery?
The vertebral arteries are part of the circulatory system. They carry blood to the brain and spinal cord, which are part of the nervous system. The vertebral artery provides 20% of blood flow to your brain (the carotid artery supplies the other 80%).
Can you live with blocked basilar artery?
Basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is a potentially fatal diagnosis, yet it is one of the most challenging conditions for clinicians to diagnose and manage. Posterior circulation strokes account for about 15% to 20% of all ischemic strokes.
What causes blockage in basilar artery?
Vertebrobasilar insufficiency is a condition characterized by poor blood flow to the posterior (back) portion of the brain, which is fed by two vertebral arteries that join to become the basilar artery. Blockage of these arteries occurs over time through a process called atherosclerosis, or the build-up of plaque.
What causes a basilar artery stroke?
2 A basilar artery stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted. This can happen if the vessel becomes blocked (an ischemic stroke) or ruptured (hemorrhagic stroke). The basilar artery is located at the base of the brain, where the two vertebral arteries come together.
Is basilar artery in brainstem?
Basilar artery. The basilar artery lies at the front of the brainstem in the midline and is formed from the union of the two vertebral arteries. The basilar artery terminates by splitting into the left and right posterior cerebral arteries.
What is basilar aneurysm?
definitions – Basilar Artery Aneurysm. Basilar Artery Aneurysm (n.) 1.(MeSH)Abnormal outpouching in the wall of intracranial blood vessels. Most common are the saccular (berry) aneurysms located at branch points in CIRCLE OF WILLIS at the base of the brain.
What is basal artery stenosis?
definitions – Basilar Artery Stenosis. Basilar Artery Stenosis (n.) 1.(MeSH)Localized or diffuse reduction in blood flow through the vertebrobasilar arterial system, which supplies the BRAIN STEM; CEREBELLUM ; OCCIPITAL LOBE ; medial TEMPORAL LOBE; and THALAMUS .