Definition:
Carotid artery dissection involves a tear in an inner artery lining, known as carotid artery. Carotid arteries supply blood to the brain, and are located in the neck's front portion. The condition may be critical, and needs immediate medical attention.
Diagnosis:
Complete neurological and physical exam must be performed for diagnosis. This includes testing the vision, movement, mental function, and sensations. Test can include head CT or MRI, vascular ultrasound or MRA, cerebral angiography, and blood tests.
Treatment:
Treatment will depend on severity of the symptoms. Medicine can be needed in controlling high-blood pressure. Drugs for blood thinning may also be required for several months. Surgery can also be done to repair the dissection, and other therapies might be needed if there's an underlying disorder/s in blood vessels.
Symptoms and Signs:
Symptoms and signs of the condition can include neck pain or headache, transient loss of vision, decreased size of the pupil accompanied drooping of upper eyelid, weakness, numbness, talking or speech problems, and ischemic stroke. Patients experiencing critical carotid artery dissection may complain of rare focal neurologic illness, especially involving the cranial nerves and occurring after a significant trauma or impact to the neck.
Causes:
The cause of the condition can be generally categorized into two: spontaneous and traumatic. Dissections that occur spontaneously were once uncommon, but have been increasingly recognized as a source of stroke in middle-aged individuals. Traumatic causes are commonly believed to be the result of neck and/or head trauma. The tear in carotid artery lets the blood leak into the walls of the artery.
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