rss
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2006;77:677-679 doi:10.1136/jnnp.2005.077073
  • Short report

Seasonal variability in spontaneous cervical artery dissection

  1. M Paciaroni1,
  2. D Georgiadis2,
  3. M Arnold3,
  4. J Gandjour2,
  5. B Keseru3,
  6. G Fahrni2,
  7. V Caso2,
  8. R W Baumgartner2
  1. 1Stroke Unit, University Hospital Perugia, Perugia, Italy
  2. 2Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  3. 3Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  1. Correspondence to:
 Dr Ralf W Baumgartner
 Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Frauenklinikstrasse 26, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland; ralf.baumgartner{at}usz.ch
  • Received 27 July 2005
  • Accepted 24 November 2005
  • Revised 23 November 2005

Abstract

We examined the seasonal variability of spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) by analysing prospectively collected data from 352 patients with 380 sCAD (361 symptomatic sCAD; 305 carotid and 75 vertebral artery dissections) admitted to two university hospitals with a catchment area of 2 200 000 inhabitants between 1985 and 2004. Presenting symptoms and signs of the 380 sCAD were ischaemic stroke in 241 (63%), transient ischaemic attack in 40 (11%), retinal ischemia in seven (2%), and non-ischaemic in 73 (19%) cases; 19 (5%) were asymptomatic sCAD. A seasonal pattern, with higher frequency of sCAD in winter (31.3%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 26.5 to 36.4; p = 0.021) compared to spring (25.5%; 95% CI: 21.1 to 30.3), summer (23.5%; 95% CI: 19.3 to 28.3), and autumn (19.7%; 95% CI: 15.7 to 24.1) was observed. Although the cause of seasonality in sCAD is unclear, the winter peaks of infection, hypertension, and aortic dissection suggest common underlying mechanisms.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests: none declared

This Article

  1. Abstract
  2. Full text
  3. PDF

Responses

  1. Submit a response
  2. No responses published

Register for free content

The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.

BMJ Careers - Latest neurology and neurosurgery jobs