Table 1 Review of literature: cases of vertebral artery dissection VAD reported in pregnancy and postpartum period
Cases | Age | Presentation | Risk factors | VAD affected | Mode of delivery | Time to and from delivery (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current report | 39 | Vertigo, vomiting, nystagmus, dizziness, and hindrance in the execution of fine movements with the right arm | Migraine | Right | Cesarean section | Antepartum, 39 w |
Gasecki et al. (1999) | 34 | Neck pain, headache, 1 week later: right facial numbness, left-sided weakness, and vertigo, right. Horner’s syndrome, right-side ataxia, | Healthy | Right | Vaginal delivery | 14 days postpartum |
McKinney et al. (2002) | 41 | Severe headache, blurred vision, HTN | Preeclampsia | Left | Cesarean section | 5 days postpartum |
Tuluc (2006) | 39 | Headache preceding loss of consciousness | HTN | Right | Subsequent massive subarachnoid hemorrhage with death | Antepartum |
Arnold et al. (2008) | 41 | Bilateral neck pain | Migraine, hyperlipidemia | Left | Vaginal delivery | 18 days postpartum |
27 | Ipsilateral neck pain, thunderclap headache | Migraine, HTN, hyperlipidemia | Right | Vaginal delivery | 11 days postpartum | |
38 | Thunderclap headache | Migraine, hyperlipidemia | Bilateral | Vaginal delivery | 7 days postpartum | |
34 | Ipsilateral neck pain, headache | Chiropractor neck manipulation | Right | Vaginal delivery | 7 days postpartum | |
Sharma et al. (2010) [29] | 28 | Non-exertional, intermittent, substernal, sharp chest pain, and left arm numbness, intermittent bifrontal headache | Atherosclerotic risk factors | Left | Vaginal delivery | 10 days postpartum |
Cenkowski et al. (2012) [30] | 35 | Sudden-onset retrosternal chest pain radiating to the jaw, nausea, vomiting (7 months postpartum), diplopia, numbness to left arm and face (8 months postpartum) | None | Right | Vaginal delivery | 7 months postpartum |
Drazin et al. (2012) | 37 | Thunderclap headache, neck pain | Migraine, hHigh pressure during labor | Bilateral | Vaginal delivery | 3 days postpartum |
Morton A. (2012) | 38 | Occipital headache, severe right-sided anterior neck pain, ipsilateral Horner’s syndrome (after chiropractic treatment: spinal manipulation) | Migraine, SLE, HTN, heterozygous for prothrombin gene mutation | Right | 4 days after the onset of neurological symptoms intrauterine fetal demise | Antepartum 16 weeks was noted |
Kelly et al. (2014) | 39 | Thunderclap headache, ipsilateral neck pain, blurred vision, and horizontal diplopia | HTN, hyperlipidemia | Bilateral | Vaginal delivery | 24 days postpartum |
39 | Right eyelid ptosis, headache, and bilateral neck pain | Healthy | Right | Vaginal delivery | 11 days postpartum | |
29 | Right-sided weakness, sensory loss, and expressive aphasia, followed by severe headache and right-sided hemiplegia | Migraine | Left | Vaginal delivery | 53 days postpartum | |
32 | Severe headache and neck pain, followed by left-sided facial droop and left arm weakness | Migraine | Right | Vaginal delivery | 0 days postpartum | |
28 | Severe headache, neck pain, bilateral leg weakness | HTN | Left | Cesarean section | 4 days postpartum | |
Finley et al. (2015) | 35 | Thunderclap headache, intractable vertigo | Migraine | Right | Vaginal delivery | 21 days postpartum |
Nishimura et al. (2015) | 35 | Thunderclap headache | Eclampsia, PRES | Right | 8 days postpartum | |
Shanmugalingam et al. (2016) | 32 | Left-sided neck pain | Preeclampsia/eclampsia | Left | Cesarean section | Antepartum, 38 + 2 weeks |
33 | Right-sided neck pain | Preeclampsia | Right | Cesarean section | Antepartum, 36 weeks | |
30 | Headache with left-sided neck pain | NSAID-induced postpartum HTN, migraines, obesity | Right | Vaginal delivery | 3 days postpartum | |
30 | Left-sided neck pain | Previous IUGR and postpartum hemorrhage with DIC | Left | Vaginal delivery | 6 days postpartum, | |
Manasewitsch et al. (2020) | 31 | Frontal headache, vertigo, nausea, vomiting | Preeclampsia, smoking | Left | Cesarean section | 10 days postpartum |