Interventional Distal Embolization before Corrective Cervical Spinal Surgery for Posttraumatic Vertebral Artery Occlusion: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

OBJECTIVE: A traumatic vertebral artery (VA) injury may result in serious cerebral infarction in the vertebrobasilar area. However, the approach to its diagnosis and the optimal treatment have not yet been established. We present a patient with traumatic occlusion of a unilateral VA due to the multiple cervical spine fractures who required decompression and fixation, in whom the injured VA was coil embolized distal to the occlusion prior to the cervical spine surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: A 47-year-old woman was injured in a car accident and, presented with C6-C7 superior articular process fractures and C2-C3 ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) with sensory hypoesthesia and motor palsy of the left upper limb. MRA showed left VA occlusion and patent contralateral VA. DSA showed left VA occlusion from the origin to C5/6 and its antegrade flow by collateral orthodromic circulation from the muscular branches. To prevent vertebrobasilar infarction due to migration of the thrombus from the occluded VA which was recanalized by surgical fixation, distal coil embolization of the injured VA by navigating a microcatheter through the contralateral VA across the vertebrobasilar junction was performed. Neither ischemic events nor new neurologic symptoms occurred during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Preoperative coil embolization to a traumatic VA occlusion can be one of the therapeutic choices to prevent thromboembolic stroke after cervical spine surgery. When the proximal segment of the VA was injured and VA occluded from origin, this treatment strategy is feasible, safe, and effective.