Vertebral artery dissection in rheumatoid arthritis with cervical spine disease.
A 59-year-old woman with long-standing active rheumatoid arthritis presented with posterior circulation ischemic stroke after vertebral dissection. She had severe multilevel degenerative changes of her cervical spine. She did not have classic stroke risk factors nor evidence of atherosclerotic disease or other systemic diseases. The most likely mechanism appears to be injury of the artery wall by an osteophyte, causing dissection that resulted in thrombosis and subsequent embolic strokes.
Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Ritika
R
Mahajan
Branko N
BN
Huisa
D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D020217:Vertebral Artery Dissection / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
Acute ischemic stroke; inflammatory disease; neuroimaging; rheumatoid arthritis; stroke diagnosis