An 18-year-old man with fenestrated vertebral arteries, recurrent stroke and successful angiographic coiling

Fenestration of vertebral arteries has been reported in association with thromboembolic brain infarctions. However, few cases have been reported in which recurrent infarction occurred in spite of adequate anticoagulation. We report a young man with fenestrated vertebral arteries and stroke who failed to respond to standard anticoagulation therapy but did well with angiographic coil obliteration of an abnormal vertebral segment. An 18-year-old left-handed man presented with acute onset of dizziness and headache. No trauma or other stroke risk factors were identified. Left cerebellar infarction was seen on CT, but the cause could not be identified by brain and neck MRI, MRA, or CTA. Bilateral fenestrated vertebral arteries were identified with conventional angiography. Although the patient recovered fully and was treated with anticoagulation, he suffered a recurrent stroke 1 month later involving the right cerebellum while he was on a therapeutic dose of warfarin. Repeat arteriography showed a spontaneous dissection within one of the fenestrated vertebral segments. Since receiving angiographic coil obliteration of the pathologic segment, he has been free of all symptoms. We conclude that the patient sustained recurrent thromboembolic events in his posterior circulation due to spontaneous dissection within a fenestrated vertebral artery segment. Conventional angiography and emergent interventional embolization were essential to his diagnostic evaluation and therapeutic intervention.