title: Growing Evidence about the Relationship between Vessel Dissection and Scuba Diving.
abstract: Carotid and vertebral artery dissection are relatively frequent and risky conditions. In the last decade, different patients with extracranial (and in 1 case also intracranial) dissections associated with the practice of scuba diving were reported. The connection between the two conditions has not been fully explained so far. In the present article, we report the case of a patient presenting with Claude Bernard-Horner syndrome and homolateral XII cranial nerve palsy, manifesting a few days after diving in the cold water of a lake. The patient ended up having internal carotid artery dissection associated with the formation of a pseudoaneurysm. Here, we offer a summary of all cases reported in the literature about scuba diving and arterial dissection, and provide a critical discussion about which scuba diving-related factors can trigger the dissection of cervical vessels.
authors.affiliation: Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Neurology Unit, IRCCS Foundation Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brajkovic
authors.forename: Giulietta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riboldi
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Govoni
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Corti
authors.forename: Nereo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bresolin
authors.forename: Giacomo Pietro
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Comi
keywords: Claude Bernard-Horner syndrome; Internal carotid dissection; Scuba diving; XII cranial nerve