title: Arterial hypertension as risk factor for spontaneous cervical artery dissection. A case-control study.
abstract: Because of the presumed non-atherosclerotic pathogenesis, the potential link between spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) and common risk factors for atherosclerosis has never been investigated systematically. Therefore, this prospective, multicentre, case-control study compared the frequency of tobacco use, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolaemia among a group of consecutive patients with sCAD (n = 153), a group of patients with ischaemic stroke, not related to CAD (non-CAD), and a group of controls. As opposed to the other variables, a trend towards a significant association was seen when the prevalence of hypertension was compared among patients with sCAD and controls (26.8% v 17.0%; odds ratio (OR) 1.79; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98 to 3.27; p = 0.058). Hypertension was also significantly associated with the subgroup of patients with sCAD and cerebral infarction (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.01 to 3.70; p = 0.045), particularly when involving the vertebral arteries (OR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.20 to 6.04; p = 0.017). These findings might help define the spectrum of pathogenic conditions predisposing to sCAD and provide information to help investigate the combined effect of such susceptibility factors in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Università degli Studi di Brescia, P. le Spedali Civili, 1, 25100 Brescia, Italia. ale_pezzini@hotmail.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pezzini
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caso
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zanferrari
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Del Zotto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paciaroni
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bertolino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Agnelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Padovani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020217:Vertebral Artery Dissection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*