Journal of neurointerventional surgery
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Case Reports
Angioplasty and stent placement for complete occlusion of the vertebral artery secondary to giant cell arteritis.
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of systemic vasculitis in adults. Patients usually present with headache and visual symptoms, and have an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. It has been reported that 3-4% of patients with GCA develop ischemic events secondary to vertebral artery stenosis or occlusion. ⋯ The patient had significant improvement of neurological symptoms within 3 days after the procedure and continued to improve during hospitalization. Endovascular treatment of vasculitis affecting the intracranial vessels is not yet established. Our experience with successful treatment of complete occlusion of the vertebral artery secondary to GCA using endovascular intracranial angioplasty and stent placement is reported.