[A case of transient cerebral ischemia of the vertebrobasilar system caused by carotid ulcerative lesion and persistent proatlantal intersegmental artery: a case report].

A rare case with the episodes of vertebrobasilar TIAs which were caused by carotid ulcerative lesion and by persistence of proatlantal intersegmental artery is reported. This 69-year-old man was admitted on 14th Feb. 1985 with complaints of three attacks of vertigo, diplopia, nausea, vomiting and dysequilibrium lasting about 1 hour. His past history and family history were unremarkable. On admission, physical and neurological examinations revealed nothing particular, except bilateral carotid bruits. On the right side, innocent low pitched bruit was detected, however on the left side, carotid bruit was high pitched and was regarded as pathological. Blood pressure was 180/80 mmHg. Pulse rate was 66/min and cardiac arrhythmia was not detected by EKG. He also had no history of cardiac arrhythmia as mentioned above. CT scans and MRI showed only mild brain atrophy and no brain stem nor cerebellar lesions. Left carotid angiogram revealed ulcerative lesion of the common carotid bifurcation which was compatible with high pitched bruit. And at the level of the C2 vertebra, persistent proatlantal intersegmental artery originated from the left internal carotid artery which, after running upward, joined to the horizontal portion of the left vertebral artery above the atlas. Internal carotid and the vertebrobasilar vasculature beyond the proatlantal intersegmental artery were normal except slight irregularity of carotid siphon. Right carotid and vertebral angiograms revealed no abnormality and basilar artery was opacified clearly again via right vertebral artery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)