Vertebral Artery Reconstruction. A Successful Technique in Selected Patients

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Patients [14] were selected to have a total of 15 vertebral artery reconstructions in a 4 yr period. They all had incapacitating neurologic symptoms. Detailed investigations were done to rule out other possible causes. If more than 1 lesion was present in the angiogram, priority was given to the reconstruction of carotid lesions. If symptoms persisted, vertebral artery stenoses were considered significant only if they involved .gtoreq. 75% of the cross-sectional area with the other vertebral artery being equally diseased or absent. The preferred operation was a vertebral artery bypass, although 4 reimplantations were done. Postoperative angiograms showed all grafts to be patent. Patency was confirmed again at 28 .+-. 16 mo. by Doppler imaging. There were no operative neurologic deficits or deaths. All patients but 1 (in whom the selection protocol was not strictly followed) were relieved of their incapacitating symptoms.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: