Unusual manifestations of basilar artery ectasia

Three patients with unusual presentations of basilar artery ectasia are described: subarachnoid hemorrhage was manifest in one and autonomic dysfunction developed in the other two. Aneurysmal rupture was the cause in the first patient, while compression of the brainstem and/or of the baroreceptor afferences of the IXth and Xth cranial nerves is postulated to be responsible for the symptoms found in the other two. Basilar artery aneurysms should be considered in cases with subarachnoid hemorrhage or autonomic dysfunction, particularly when diagnostic procedures fail to disclose other possible etiologies.