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Cerebral vasculitis (sometimes the word angiitis is used instead of "vasculitis") is vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessel wall) involving the brain and occasionally the spinal cord. [1] It affects all of the vessels: very small blood vessels ( capillaries ), medium-size blood vessels ( arterioles and venules ), or large blood vessels ...
Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS, sometimes called Call-Fleming syndrome) is a disease characterized by a weeks-long course of thunderclap headaches, sometimes focal neurologic signs, and occasionally seizures. [1] Symptoms are thought to arise from transient abnormalities in the blood vessels of the brain. [1]
The most common cause of arterial stenosis is atherosclerosis, however other pathologies such as fibromuscular dysplasia, dissection, trauma or external compression may occur. [2] Atherosclerotic plaque can rupture, resulting in a source of emboli. These emboli can cause TIAs or strokes in the areas of the brain supplied by the affected artery.
Cerebral ischaemia refers to a severely reduced flow of blood in the brain due to narrowing or blocking of arteries or blood vessels causing inflammation. [12] Ischaemic stroke is characterised by dizziness, sudden weakness and numbness, visual deficits, difficulty speaking and comprehending speech, and a severe headache.
Other common symptoms are a pulsing noise in the head, progressive weakness, numbness and vision changes as well as debilitating, excruciating pain. [4] [5] In serious cases, blood vessels rupture and cause bleeding within the brain (intracranial hemorrhage). [a] In more than half of patients with AVM, this is the first symptom. [7]
Atherosclerosis narrows blood vessels in the brain, resulting in decreased cerebral perfusion. Other risk factors that contribute to stroke include smoking and diabetes. [6] Narrowed cerebral arteries can lead to ischemic stroke, but continually elevated blood pressure can also cause tearing of vessels, leading to a hemorrhagic stroke. [4]
The latter hypothesis is supported by the frequent finding of diffuse blood vessel spasms (vasoconstriction) in many people with PRES, [1] and the evidence for decreased perfusion, [5] although the spasm may also be a consequence of the blood vessel damage rather than the cause. [4] Some, therefore, include the vasospasm in the "toxic" theory. [3]
As a result, blood travels up one of the other blood vessels to the brain (the other vertebral or the carotids), reaches the basilar artery or goes around the cerebral arterial circle and descends via the (contralateral) vertebral artery to the subclavian (with the proximal blockage) and feeds blood to the distal subclavian artery (which ...