Case Report
Threat of a Cycle Proof: Vertebral Artery Dissection
Associated with Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery Infarction
Francisco Monteiro , Pedro Oliveira, and Artur Cond´ e
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital Center of Vila Nova Gaia/Espinho,
Rua Conceição Fernandes s/n, 4434-502 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
Correspondence should be addressed to Francisco Monteiro; francisco.c.monteiro@gmail.com
Received 6 September 2018; Revised 14 November 2018; Accepted 12 December 2018; Published 27 December 2018
Academic Editor: Abrão Rapoport
Copyright © 2018 Francisco Monteiro et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
is paper presents a case of a perfectly healthy 36-year-old male, who went to the emergency department with a clinical picture of
diffuse headache, dizziness, and asthenia with 3 days of evolution, after a long cycling race. He was admitted to the ENT Department with
suspected diagnosis of peripheral vertigo. e patient developed hypoesthesia of the face, diplopia, right lateropulsion, and Romberg
with preferential rightward fall, and imaging studies demonstrated an extracranial vertebral artery dissection concomitant with PICA
territory infarction. is is a rare described case of a vertebral artery dissection concomitant with an infarction of the PICA territory. is
case demonstrates the importance of maintaining a high degree of suspicion of stroke in patients with signs/symptoms of nystagmus/
vertigo and the relevance of magnetic resonance imaging instead of tomography in the detection of these serious clinic conditions.
1. Introduction
Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a relatively rare event
but a major cause of stroke in young and middle-aged
patients [1]. Only twenty percent of ischemic events occur
in the posterior circulation due to atherosclerosis, arterial
embolization, or arterial dissection [2]. e concomitance of
vertebral arterial dissection associated with infarction of the
territory of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) is
an even rarer event. e truth is that this young man who
had been on a three-hour bike ride went to the emergency
department with a common complaint of vertigo and
presented a rare association of a vertebral artery dissection
with PICA infarction.
2. Case Presentation
eauthorsreportacaseofa36-year-oldactivemanwithno
relevant medical history, who went to the emergency de-
partment due to a diffuse headache and dizziness, with a 3-
day course after a long bicycle ride. e patient referred that
these symptoms were usual after an intense physical activity
as he regularly performed in cycle races. He was admitted to
Neurology observation in the Emergency Room (ER). On
examination, there were no evident de novo neurological
signs. A cerebral CT was performed, and it was normal. He
was then referred to Ear, Nose, and roat (ENT) obser-
vation due to suspicion of peripheral vertigo.
e ENT examination revealed a horizontal-rotatory
nystagmus, with rapid phase to the right, that was exhaust-
ible in the gaze, however with a normal head impulse test. e
Neurology ER team assumed noncentral vertigo since at this
time there was no evidence of any signs of a central cause,
neither in physical examination nor in the imaging test
performed. is diagnosis seemed the most likely to the team.
He was admitted to the ENT ward, and symptomatic and
medical treatment was initiated. ere was clinical stabili-
zation until the 3
rd
day, when sudden symptoms and signs
emerged: ipsilateral downward fall, right hemifacial pares-
thesia, right hemifacial pain, ipsilateral limb ataxia with ataxic
gait, and diplopia. An emergent magnetic resonance angi-
ography revealed “(...) hyperintense area in T2 and T2
FLAIR in the dorsal lateral aspect of the right bulb that in the
diffusion study showed a marked restriction (...).” In the
arteriography study, it was identified that “an occlusion of the
right vertebral artery was identified in segment V2, after
showing progressive reduction and contour irregularity”
(Figure 1).
Hindawi
Case Reports in Otolaryngology
Volume 2018, Article ID 5387607, 3 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5387607