Spontaneous dissection of vertebral artery: a cause of ischemic brain infarction in childhood

Abstract

In recent years it has been drawn that the cerebrovascular disease in children is having more and more importance based mainly on a better knowledge of the many entities that may constitute risk factors for ictus in children and adolescents and above all on a better identification of cases due to the great step forward in the field of diagnostic by means of the neuroimage techniques. Among the many well known causes the spontaneous vertebrobasilar disection means a documented, though unsual, cause of isquemic cerebral ictus in the childhood. We describe a case of and adolescent with cerebral isquemic infarction secondary to a spontaneous vertebrobasilar disection in its extracraneal path.