The characteristics of patients with type 1: intraforaminal vertebral artery anomalies
Authors
Eskander, Mark S.Aubin, Michelle E.
Major, Joshua W.
Huning, Bree
Drew, Jacob M.
Marvin, Julianne
Connolly, Patrick J.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Office of Medical EducationDepartment of Orthopedics and Physical Rehabilitation
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2011-06-14Keywords
AdolescentAdult
Age Distribution
Aged
Child
Female
Humans
Incidence
Male
Middle Aged
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
United States
Vertebral Artery
Young Adult
Life Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In a previous study, intraforaminal anomalies were found to occur at a rate of 7.6%. This increases the risk of injury to this vessel if the surgeon is unaware of such abnormalities preoperatively. The aim of our retrospective study was to identify patient factors that may predict anomalous intraforaminal vertebral arteries. Patient records were obtained from a previous study. In that study, the records of each consecutive patient who underwent cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for axial neck pain, radiculopathy, or myelopathy between January 2007 and January 2008 were reviewed. The social and medical histories of each patient were evaluated with respect to the presence or absence of an aberrant vertebral artery. We reviewed the medical records of the 250 patients whose MRIs were reviewed in the previous study. Seven patients were excluded for incomplete records. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were performed to compare the normal vertebral artery anatomy patients to the aberrant patients. The medical records of 19 patients with aberrant vertebral arteries and 224 patients with normal vertebral arteries were reviewed. The aberrant group was significantly older than the normal group (P=.00015). The only diagnostic condition that represented a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups was incidence of cancer. A relationship may exist between patient age, cancer, and medialization of the vertebral artery. The mechanism of this possible relationship is unclear. Although aberrant vertebral arteries are rare, a surgeon should have raised suspicion of this possibility in patients with a history of cancer.Source
Orthopedics. 2011 Jun 14;34(6):184. doi: 10.3928/01477447-20110427-09. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.3928/01477447-20110427-09Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/49202PubMed ID
21667905Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3928/01477447-20110427-09