Seasonal variability in spontaneous cervical artery dissection. Issue 5 (13th April 2006)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Paciaroni, M; Georgiadis, D; Arnold, M; Gandjour, J; Keseru, B; Fahrni, G; Caso, V; Baumgartner, R W
• Is Part Of: Journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry. Volume 77:Issue 5(2006)
• Page Start: 677
• Page End: 679
• Publication Date: 2006-04-13
• Subjects: CI, confidence interval -- DSA, digital subtraction angiography -- MRA, cerebral magnetic resonance angiography -- MRI, magnetic resonance imaging -- sCAD, spontaneous cervical artery dissection -- sICAD, spontaneous internal carotid artery dissection -- sVAD, spontaneous vertebral artery dissection; cardiovascular disease -- cervical artery dissection -- stroke; Neurology -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.2005.077073
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3050

Abstract

Abstract : We examined the seasonal variability of spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) by analysing prospectively collected data from 352 patients with 380 sCAD (361 symptomatic sCAD; 305 carotid and 75 vertebral artery dissections) admitted to two university hospitals with a catchment area of 2 200 000 inhabitants between 1985 and 2004. Presenting symptoms and signs of the 380 sCAD were ischaemic stroke in 241 (63%), transient ischaemic attack in 40 (11%), retinal ischemia in seven (2%), and non-ischaemic in 73 (19%) cases; 19 (5%) were asymptomatic sCAD. A seasonal pattern, with higher frequency of sCAD in winter (31.3%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 26.5 to 36.4; p = 0.021) compared to spring (25.5%; 95% CI: 21.1 to 30.3), summer (23.5%; 95% CI: 19.3 to 28.3), and autumn (19.7%; 95% CI: 15.7 to 24.1) was observed. Although the cause of seasonality in sCAD is unclear, the winter peaks of infection, hypertension, and aortic dissection suggest common underlying mechanisms.