High Cervical Spinal Cord Compression Associated with Anomaly of Bilateral Vertebral Arteries

Anomalies of the vertebral arteries are rare and usually detected incidentally. However, very rarely, they can manifest with clinical symptoms. We describe such a symptomatic case of high cervical spinal cord compression associated with persistent C2 segmental arteries.

A 67-year-old man presented with a 5-year history of worsening left-sided weakness and gait disturbance. Magnetic resonance imaging, 3-dimensional computed tomography, and digital subtraction angiography revealed anomalous courses of the vertebral arteries, which compressed the cervical spinal cord at the C1 level from both sides. Interestingly, the left vertebral artery had fenestration, which supposedly reflected that the intradural paramedian longitudinal axis had developmentally persisted until more distally on the left. Microvascular decompression was performed to transpose the offending vertebral arteries. With vascular tapes made of polyglycolic acid sheets and fascia, the vertebral arteries compressing the cervical spine were anchored to the dura mater of the vertebral arch. This maneuver effectively relieved the neurovascular conflict created by the bilateral anomalous vertebral arteries, and the patient's myelopathy improved after surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first report to clearly demonstrate this combination of vertebral artery anomalies causing clinical symptoms and its successful treatment by microvascular decompression.

Transposition of the vertebral artery by anchoring to the dura mater of the vertebral arch could be an effective and safe option for these disease conditions.