Vertebro-basilar ischaemia with thrombosis of the vertebral artery: report of two cases with embolism.

Two cases with vertebro-basilar infarcts associated with severe stenosis of the vertebral artery in its cervical part is reported. Complete thrombosis of the vertebral artery was observed after a short delay in both cases. As the carotid arteries were normal and the controlateral vertebral artery was dominant, an embolic mechanism was suspected. No new event occurred in the following one and three years respectively after the stroke. These two cases demonstrate the possibility of embolism from severe stenosis of the cervical vertebral artery. This mechanism could explain some of the infarcts related to vertebral artery occlusion.