Acute basilar artery dissection treated by emergency stenting in a 13-year-old boy.

We report a 13-year-old boy who presented with acute basilar artery occlusion due to traumatic arterial dissection. Because a grave prognosis was expected if left untreated, and the chance of neurological recovery was believed to be unlikely but not zero, given that emergency stenting for the dissection was performed within 6 h of ictus. Recanalization of the basilar artery with stent placement did not change the poor prognosis in this patient because there was extension of dissection into the posterior cerebral arteries.