• Claudio Baracchini, Filippo Farina, Simone Tonello, Valentina Citton, Giorgio Meneghetti, Enzo Ballotta, and Renzo Manara.
• Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Padua, School of Medicine. claudiobaracchini@tin.it
• J Neuroimaging. 2013 Jan 1; 23 (1): 18-20.

Background And PurposeInternal carotid artery (ICA) elongation (coiling and kinking) has been suggested as a risk factor for carotid dissection. Since vasomotion is known to be impaired in spontaneous cervical vessel dissection, we investigated whether endothelial-dependent vasodilation in subjects with carotid coiling and kinking is compromised.MethodsWe undertook a case-control study using high-resolution ultrasound and measured flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery in 80 subjects with carotid elongation and in 80 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). The hemodynamic impact of carotid elongation was taken into consideration subdividing mild/moderate kinking from severe kinking according to a peak systolic blood flow velocity >150 cm/s.ResultsFMD did not differ among subjects with coiling (14.51 ± 7.86%), mild/moderate kinking (14.38 ± 9.58%) and HC (15.53 ± 8.48%), while subjects with a severe kinking had a significantly lower FMD (8.38 ± 3.26).ConclusionsAmong subjects with carotid elongation, those with severe kinking have an impaired endothelial-dependent vasodilation and might be prone to carotid dissection.Copyright © 2011 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

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