Abstract
The term dolichoectasia stands for a dilated, elongated and tortuous vessel. Dolichoectasia of the cerebral vasculature is rare but well-described and commonly involves vertebral and basilar arteries. It may be an incidental finding or the patient may present with local compression leading to hydrocephalus, cranial nerve palsies or with ischemic symptoms. We present a case of dolichoectasia of basilar artery contributing to multiple cerebral thromboembolisms where the patient presented with cerebellar symptoms and signs with vascular dementia.
Highlights
Dolichoectasia is a condition in arteries characterized by weakening of its wall leading to a dilated, elongated, and/or tortuous vessel
Dolichoectasia is commonly described in the cerebral vasculature, mostly involving the vertebra basilar system
There is a high prevalence among patients who had a stroke, which is 3% to 17% [2], and in general vertebra-basilar dolichoectasia (VBD) is asymptomatic; as a percentage, it’s around 1.3% [1]
Summary
Dolichoectasia is a condition in arteries characterized by weakening of its wall leading to a dilated, elongated, and/or tortuous vessel. It can lead to multiple cerebral infarctions in supplied territories of the brain. This may be further triggered by underlying patients' risk factors for athero-embolism, such as uncontrolled hypertension, underlying dyslipidaemia, advancing age, and behaviours such as smoking [1]. There is a high prevalence among patients who had a stroke, which is 3% to 17% [2], and in general vertebra-basilar dolichoectasia (VBD) is asymptomatic; as a percentage, it’s around 1.3% [1]. VBD can be associated with other vascular risk factors, including advancing age, male gender, hypertension, history of adverse vascular events as myocardial infarction, lacunar infarcts. As VBD itself can give rise to cerebral infarctions, it can be considered a risk factor for the development of vascular dementia
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