Thyroid autoimmunity and spontaneous cervical artery dissection.
OBJECTIVE
The possibility that a disorder of immunity might have a role in the mechanism of local inflammatory alterations leading to spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) has been recently advocated.


METHODS
We explored this hypothesis in a case-control study, including patients with sCAD (n=29) and patients with non-CAD ischemic stroke (non-CAD; n=29). Serum levels of antithyroperoxidase, antithyroglobulin, and antithyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibodies, antinuclear antibodies, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, antidouble-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid antibodies, antiextractable nuclear antigen antibodies, rheumatoid factor, C3 and C4 complement fraction, and cryoglobulins were measured in all subjects.


RESULTS
Antithyroid autoimmunity was found in 31.0% (9 of 29) of patients with sCAD and 6.9% (2 of 29) of patients with non-CAD ischemic stroke (P=0.041).


CONCLUSIONS
Autoimmunity may be involved in the process of local inflammation related to sCAD occurrence. The hypothesis that the arterial disease might be one phenotypic expression of a generalized activation of immunity warrants further investigations.
Pezzini
Alessandro
A
Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Stroke Unit, Neurologia Vascolare, Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italia. ale_pezzini@hotmail.com
Del Zotto
Elisabetta
E
Mazziotti
Gherardo
G
Ruggeri
Giuseppina
G
Franco
Fabio
F
Giossi
Alessia
A
Giustina
Andrea
A
Padovani
Alessandro
A
D000328:Adult; D000783:Aneurysm / Q000276:immunology*; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000276:immunology*; D001158:Arteries; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D015551:Autoimmunity; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000098:blood supply*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000276:immunology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies