Recovery of reversed basilar artery flow as seen by transcranial sonography and MRA source images for vertebral dissection.

The dissection of the intracranial vertebral artery (VAD) is a common cause of young age brain stem stroke. VAD can be detected by conventional angiography, but there is yet no agreement on the most effective tool to use for the detection of VAD. Here, we report a patient with VAD, who was diagnosed with an intimal flap within the left vertebral artery by the magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) source images. Transcranial Doppler (TCD) showed a reversed flow in the basilar artery. After 4 months, TCD and transcranial color-coded Doppler (TCCD) confirmed a normal anterograde flow of the vertebro-basilar arteries.