Surgical repair of vertebral artery stenoses

During an eight year period (1973-1980) 290 patients were submitted to surgery for correction of obstructive lesions at the origin of the vertebral arteries. The pathologic process was atherosclerotic stenosis in 283, kinks in 25 and extrinsic compression in 17 cases. The operative procedures, mostly supraclavicular, on 325 arteries were: ostial endarterectomy (111), subclavian-vertebral endarterectomy (153) with patch (17), reimplantation in subclavian artery (14), subclavian-vertebral anastomosis (6), subclavian resection-anastomosis (5). Associated procedures included supra-aortic trunk reconstruction (9) and carotid endarterectomy (36 simultaneous, 51 pre and 21 post). Postoperative arteriograms were obtained in 33% of the patients with 5% occlusion and 81% excellent results. Hospital mortality was 0.6%. Long-term results with a follow-up from 2 to 9 years (mean 5 years) was the following: mortality 12%, asymptomatic 68%. Obstructive lesions of the vertebral artery are responsible for symptoms of vertebrobasilar insufficiency and are often neglected. Their frequency is suggested by the observation that during a 20-year period, 1,382 carotid, 789 supra-aortic trunk and 683 vertebral operations were performed. This series indicates that trans-subclavian vertebral ostial endarterectomy is a simple and safe procedure, providing durable results.