[Wallenberg syndrome and vertebral artery dissection probably due to trivial trauma during golf exercise]

We report a 57-year-old man who developed Wallenberg syndrome and vertebral artery dissection, probably as a complication of neck rotation during golf exercise. He noticed pain in the neck during golf exercise. About 16 hours later, he developed numbness in the right hand, cold sweat, vertigo, hiccup, double vision and ataxia in gait. Neurological examination on the 22nd day revealed a right Wallenberg syndrome. The right vertebral angiogram showed a marked stenosis of the vertebral artery at the portion across the dura, and a dissecting aneurysm in the portion from its entrance into the posterior fossa through the exit of the right posterior inferior cerebellar artery. Quick rotation and/or extension of the neck and head during golf exercise probably caused the vertebral artery dissection, resulting in Wallenberg syndrome. More attention should be paid to relatively trivial trauma as the cause of stroke, especially in the victims of younger ages.