Posterior Spinal Artery Syndrome

Posterior spinal aorta syndrome is a disease in which a number of functional and anatomical circulatory disorders are observed in the area of ​​the posterior spinal artery. The disease is rare, affecting both adults and children.

Epidemiology Posterior spinal syndrome is a rare disease with an incidence of 1 case per million people. Among children, the age period ranges from 1 month to 2 years, in rare cases it is diagnosed in people up to 3 months of age. The number of affected adults (from 50 to 70 years old) reaches 5% of the general population. Symptoms of the disease appear in women one and a half times more often than in men.

Etiology The main cause of posterior spinal artery syndrome is cases of arterial rupture in

Posterior spinal artery syndrome is a syndrome caused by occlusion or compression of the vertebral artery, and is characterized by a clinical picture of damage varying in severity in the form of manifestations of a cerebral stroke.

The topography of the vertebral arteries and their branching are to a certain extent similar to the system of the main arteries of the brain, but differ from it in a number of features: the vertebral arteries do not have anastomoses with each other, are not duplicated inside the skull, and are also subject to significantly greater bending and deformation. These features allow compression of the vertebral arteries, which can lead to their narrowing (stenosis) and even occlusion - complete closure of the lumen of the arteries. In some cases, tissue function is impaired as a result of hypoxia. This occurs due to the redistribution of blood and oxygen in it, characteristic of occlusive processes. Some brain cells seem to be “switched off” from the flow of this blood circulation: nearby cells suffer from low oxygen levels and begin to die. The dead cells are replaced by scar tissue or form cysts, so “the affected part of the brain becomes smaller and smaller.”

The syndrome can be divided into 3 large groups, in each of which the manifestations of the disease can vary significantly.

* Anatomical subtype: occurs with complete occlusion of the vertebral (posterior) artery. Occlusion leads to decreased blood flow as well as cerebral hypoxia. Such symptoms do not appear immediately; their development is delayed. Among the first signs, doctors call sudden weakness or even paralysis of a single muscle or half of the body. They often occur in the neck, arm or leg, and face. Gradually progressing, they are able to cover fairly large areas of the body (along with the limb, even the head and eye are affected). In the first stages, the first signs appear in any part of the body. Among them are rigidity of individual muscle groups, paresthesia, sensory disturbances, speech disorder, double vision, and a feeling of pins and needles. Changes in consciousness and seizures are associated with a malfunction in the nutrition of brain cells. Over time, cramps disappear