Vertebral Artery Sacrifice: Novel Strategy in Treatment of Vertebral Artery Loop.

Background: We report a case of cervical radiculopathy caused by an anomalous vertebral artery (VA) and the efficacy of endovascular vertebral artery sacrifice.

Methods: A 62-year-old woman was referred to neurosurgery because of an 8- to 9-year history of progressive left C6-7 radiculopathy refractory to other forms of treatment. Radiologic evaluation showed an abnormally tortuous loop of VA at V2 causing direct neurovascular compression at the C6-7 level. Initial attempts at microvascular decompression with posterior foraminotomy were unsuccessful due to strong adhesion between the VA and C7 nerve root. This was followed by an endovascular VA sacrifice relieving the patient's symptoms.

Conclusions: Cervical root compression by an aberrant or anomalous extracranial VA is a rare cause of radiculopathy. Endovascular VA sacrifice provided symptom relief in our patient, when other options failed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of endovascular VA sacrifice for management of cervical radiculopathy due to VA loop.