Cervical myelopathy due to compression by bilateral vertebral arteries--case report.

A 69-year-old man presented with progressive cervical myelopathy due to vascular compression of the upper cervical spinal cord. Vertebral angiography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the elongated bilateral vertebral arteries (VAs) had compressed the spinal cord at the C-2 level. The spinal cord was surgically decompressed laterally by retracting the VAs with Gore-Tex tape and anchoring them to the dura. The patient's symptoms improved postoperatively. Decompression and anchoring of the causative vessels is recommended due to the large size of the VAs.