Overview

Mean age

• Carotid artery: 40–45 years [1]

• Vertebral artery: 40 years [2]

• Important causes of stroke in young patients

Occurrence: Dissection of the carotid artery occurs more frequently than dissection of the vertebral artery (∼ 4:1)

Frequently caused by penetrating or blunt trauma (e.g., high impact car accidents) but up to 40% of cases result from mild trauma (e.g., minor sports injuries) or other mechanical triggering events (e.g., coughing, sneezing, chiropractic maneuvers)

Spontaneous dissection

• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and Marfan syndrome

• Fibromuscular dysplasia

• Hypertension

• Cystic medial necrosis

• Respiratory tract infection

• Oral contraceptive use