Spontaneous dissections of cervicocephalic arteries in childhood and adolescence

Among 263 consecutive patients with spontaneous cervicocephalic arterial dissections evaluated at the Mayo Clinic, 18 (6.8%) were 18 years of age or younger (mean age, 12 years). The dissection involved the cervical arteries in 11 patients and the intracranial arteries in seven. Extracranially, the internal carotid artery was involved in eight patients, the vertebral artery in two, and both arteries in one. Intracranially, only the anterior circulation was affected. All the patients had cerebral or retinal ischemic symptoms, usually preceded by headache. Death occurred in a 13-year-old boy with intracranial arterial dissection and coarctation of the aorta. For the 17 remaining patients, the follow-up period ranged from 1 to 21 years. A complete or good clinical recovery occurred in 10 of the 11 patients with cervical arterial dissection but in only four of the seven with dissection of intracranial arteries. Recurrent arterial dissection occurred in two patients with cervical arterial dissections and in one patient with intracranial arterial dissection.