• A Pezzini, V Caso, C Zanferrari, E Del Zotto, M Paciaroni, C Bertolino, M Grassi, G Agnelli, and A Padovani.
• Clinica Neurologica, Università degli Studi di Brescia, P. le Spedali Civili, 1, 25100 Brescia, Italia. ale_pezzini@hotmail.com
• J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. 2006 Jan 1; 77 (1): 959795-7.

AbstractBecause of the presumed non-atherosclerotic pathogenesis, the potential link between spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) and common risk factors for atherosclerosis has never been investigated systematically. Therefore, this prospective, multicentre, case-control study compared the frequency of tobacco use, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolaemia among a group of consecutive patients with sCAD (n = 153), a group of patients with ischaemic stroke, not related to CAD (non-CAD), and a group of controls. As opposed to the other variables, a trend towards a significant association was seen when the prevalence of hypertension was compared among patients with sCAD and controls (26.8% v 17.0%; odds ratio (OR) 1.79; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98 to 3.27; p = 0.058). Hypertension was also significantly associated with the subgroup of patients with sCAD and cerebral infarction (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.01 to 3.70; p = 0.045), particularly when involving the vertebral arteries (OR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.20 to 6.04; p = 0.017). These findings might help define the spectrum of pathogenic conditions predisposing to sCAD and provide information to help investigate the combined effect of such susceptibility factors in future studies.

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