title: Vascular Tortuosity May Be Associated With Cervical Artery Dissection.
abstract: Dissection is an increasingly recognized cause of ischemic stroke, which occurs spontaneously or after trauma, in relatively young patients. We hypothesized that there might be a predisposing factor weakening the vascular wall and that arterial tortuosity might be higher in patients with dissection.
  
  
  
  We consecutively enrolled cervical artery dissection (CerAD) patients who had undergone magnetic resonance angiography. Age- and sex-matched healthy subjects who underwent magnetic resonance angiography in a routine health examination were used as controls. The tortuosity was measured semiautomatically from the carotid artery and vertebral artery (VA) arteries. Tortuosity index was defined as: [(arc/chord)-1×100] in each arteries. Independent risk factors associated with CerAD were investigated using multivariable analysis. Subgroup analysis according to the dissected artery was performed.
  
  
  
  There were no differences in vascular risk factors between the 75 CerAD patients and the 75 controls. The tortuosity indexes of the contralesional VA (16.3±6.8 versus 12.1±4.5, respectively; P<0.001) and carotid artery (8.8±4.0 versus 7.3±2.9, respectively; P=0.01) were higher in patients with CerAD compared with those of control subjects. VA tortuosity (odds ratio, 1.175; P=0.001) was independently associated with the presence of CerAD. In subgroup analysis, VA tortuosity was significantly higher in 57 patients with VA dissection than in controls (P<0.001), and carotid artery tortuosity was marginally higher in 18 patients with carotid artery dissection (P=0.05).
  
  
  
  CerAD is associated with tortuous cervical arteries, which may implicate weakened cervical vascular structure in these patients.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (B.J.K.); Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan (B.J.K., N.-Y.K., D.-W.K., S.U.K., J.S.K.), Health Screening and Promotion Center (M.-J.K.), and Asan Institute of Life Science (E.Y.), Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Bum Joon
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (B.J.K.); Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan (B.J.K., N.-Y.K., D.-W.K., S.U.K., J.S.K.), Health Screening and Promotion Center (M.-J.K.), and Asan Institute of Life Science (E.Y.), Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ewha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (B.J.K.); Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan (B.J.K., N.-Y.K., D.-W.K., S.U.K., J.S.K.), Health Screening and Promotion Center (M.-J.K.), and Asan Institute of Life Science (E.Y.), Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Na-Young
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (B.J.K.); Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan (B.J.K., N.-Y.K., D.-W.K., S.U.K., J.S.K.), Health Screening and Promotion Center (M.-J.K.), and Asan Institute of Life Science (E.Y.), Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (B.J.K.); Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan (B.J.K., N.-Y.K., D.-W.K., S.U.K., J.S.K.), Health Screening and Promotion Center (M.-J.K.), and Asan Institute of Life Science (E.Y.), Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Wha
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (B.J.K.); Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan (B.J.K., N.-Y.K., D.-W.K., S.U.K., J.S.K.), Health Screening and Promotion Center (M.-J.K.), and Asan Institute of Life Science (E.Y.), Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (B.J.K.); Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan (B.J.K., N.-Y.K., D.-W.K., S.U.K., J.S.K.), Health Screening and Promotion Center (M.-J.K.), and Asan Institute of Life Science (E.Y.), Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. jongskim@amc.seoul.kr.
authors.forename: Jong S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D020215:Carotid Artery, Internal, Dissection / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D020217:Vertebral Artery Dissection / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: dissection; magnetic resonance angiography; risk factors; stroke; vertebral artery