Occlusions of the basilar artery: Pathologic-anatomical and clinical findings in different occlusion types and their prognosis.

Occlusions of the basilar artery are reviewed under pathologic-anatomical and clinical aspects. Special attention is devoted to correlations as well as discrepancies between pathologic-anatomical findings, clinical findings and the results of additional diagnostic procedures. The resulting possibilities of erroneous diagnostic and prognostic interpretations are discussed. The considerations lead to the conclusion that an attempt should be made to classify clinically the basilar artery occlusions into oral, median and caudal types. The present paper takes the pathologic-anatomical as well as the clinical findings into consideration. It has been reported in recent years that in some instances patients have survived basilar artery occlusions. Similar observations suggested the advisability of investigating the basilar artery occlusion among our patients with regard to pathogenetic, diagnostic and prognostic criteria.