Carotid artery tear

Description

Carotid artery dissection or tear. Cariotid artery is being separated from aorta and supplies brain with the blood. Dissection is an injury of the inside membrane of the artery. It can appear spontaneously or after a neck injury. The injury in the artery permits the blood to leak into the wall of the artery, which might cause blockage and reduced bloodflow. This is a serious disorder since the approximately half of the patients experience a stroke after dissection. Dissections are being connected with car accidents, blunt neck injuries, all physical activities that involve sudden moves or stretching of the neck and, rarely, after cyropractic manipulations with the neck. Higher risk for this disease exist in patients who suffer from connective tissue diseases.

Symptoms

Manifested symptoms are primarily determined by the part of the brain to which blood supply is blocked. They include: weakness (usually of one part of the body), slurred speech, doble vision, loss of consciousness, disabled speech, neck pain, numbness, headache, ringing in the ears (tinnitus).

Overview

Anamnesis will be taken and medical examination will be done. Angiogram, CT angiogram or ultrasound will be done to identify dissection.

Tests

Complete blood count (CBC), biochemical blood analysis, CT scan, electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), troponin, ultrasound and X-rays.

Additional analyses

CT scan angiogram, MRI angiogram

Specialists

Neurology, Neurosurgery

Therapy

Therapy depends on the level of dissection, but it includes: anticoagulant therapy, endovascular proceeding and / or surgical proceeding.