• Nadia Mariagrazia Giannantoni, Aldobrando Broccolini, Giovanni Frisullo, Fabio Pilato, Paolo Profice, Roberta Morosetti, Giuseppe Di Lella, Giuseppe Zampino, and Giacomo Della Marca.
• Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
• J Neuroimaging. 2015 May 1;25(3):505-6.

AbstractNeurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a heterogeneous, common, neurocutaneous disorder presenting different complications during a life span, including cerebrovascular dysplasia. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of NF1 associated with vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia and pontine ischemic stroke. We describe a 57-year-old man with NF1 who presented an acute onset right-sided facial palsy and hemiplegia, dysarthria, and gait imbalance. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an acute left paramedian pontine infarct and a hypoplastic right vertebral artery. Brain Computed Tomography Angiography revealed the occurrence of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia. Co-occurrence of VBD and NF1 might not be merely casual and it may significantly heighten the mortality rate in this multisystem disorder. We suggest a possible role of VBD in the genesis of our patient's clinical-radiological features and prompt the early detection of asymptomatic arteriopathy in individuals with NF1 in order to ameliorate patients' quality of life and life expectancy.Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

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