Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery Steal

Yanru Chen,1,* Wenqi Li,1,* Kunhua Li2 1Neurology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Radiology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chen Y, Li W, Li K
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Dove Medical Press 2022-10-01
Series:International Journal of General Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.dovepress.com/computed-tomography-angiography-in-the-diagnosis-of-subclavian-vertebr-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJGM
_version_ 1811197800432533504
author Chen Y
Li W
Li K
author_facet Chen Y
Li W
Li K
author_sort Chen Y
collection DOAJ
description Yanru Chen,1,* Wenqi Li,1,* Kunhua Li2 1Neurology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Radiology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yanru Chen, Neurology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 74 Linjiang Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400010, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13983100640, Email chenyanru@cqmu.edu.cnPurpose: Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is commonly used in the diagnosis and evaluation of subclavian steal (SS). However, the abnormal manifestations of vertebral artery (VA) in SS on CTA are vastly under-recognized and prone to misdiagnosis. We reported for the first time the abnormal CTA manifestations of VA in SS, and evaluated the value and pitfalls of CTA in the diagnosis of SS, aiming to avoid misdiagnosis and facilitate correct diagnosis of SS using CTA.Patients and Methods: This study retrospectively included 19 patients diagnosed with SS using carotid duplex sonography (CDS) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) between 2018 and 2022 at a tertiary neurology clinic in Chongqing, China. Their CDS, DSA and CTA results were collected and analyzed. The diagnostic consistency between CTA and DSA in grading subclavian artery stenosis was evaluated, and the CTA manifestations of VA were summarized.Results: All patients presented subclavian steno-occlusion on the affected side, without steno-occlusion of the contralateral subclavian artery or bilateral VA on DSA. A high concordance was observed between CTA and DSA in grading subclavian artery stenosis (Kappa = 0.825, P = 0.000). However, only 26.3% of patients presented normal VA on CTA, whereas 73.7% of patients presented shallow VA ipsilateral to subclavian steno-occlusion. A 28.6% of patients with shallow VA were misdiagnosed as having vertebral arteriopathy. The presence of shallow VA had no significant correlation with age, gender, severity of subclavian artery stenosis, diameter of VA or model of CT scanner (all P> 0.05). Although not statistically significant, the incidence of shallow VA increased with higher SS grade.Conclusion: Carotid CTA is highly accurate for diagnosing subclavian steno-occlusion, whereas shallow VA is the pitfall of CTA in diagnosing SS. It is important to improve the recognition of shallow VA to avoid misdiagnosis.Keywords: subclavian steal, subclavian artery, vertebral artery, digital subtraction angiography, ultrasonography
first_indexed 2024-04-12T01:20:25Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f7c2f0b86bd8447f83f72c976db7711d
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1178-7074
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T01:20:25Z
publishDate 2022-10-01
publisher Dove Medical Press
record_format Article
series International Journal of General Medicine
spelling doaj.art-f7c2f0b86bd8447f83f72c976db7711d2022-12-22T03:53:48ZengDove Medical PressInternational Journal of General Medicine1178-70742022-10-01Volume 157951795979200Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery StealChen YLi WLi KYanru Chen,1,* Wenqi Li,1,* Kunhua Li2 1Neurology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Radiology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yanru Chen, Neurology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 74 Linjiang Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400010, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13983100640, Email chenyanru@cqmu.edu.cnPurpose: Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is commonly used in the diagnosis and evaluation of subclavian steal (SS). However, the abnormal manifestations of vertebral artery (VA) in SS on CTA are vastly under-recognized and prone to misdiagnosis. We reported for the first time the abnormal CTA manifestations of VA in SS, and evaluated the value and pitfalls of CTA in the diagnosis of SS, aiming to avoid misdiagnosis and facilitate correct diagnosis of SS using CTA.Patients and Methods: This study retrospectively included 19 patients diagnosed with SS using carotid duplex sonography (CDS) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) between 2018 and 2022 at a tertiary neurology clinic in Chongqing, China. Their CDS, DSA and CTA results were collected and analyzed. The diagnostic consistency between CTA and DSA in grading subclavian artery stenosis was evaluated, and the CTA manifestations of VA were summarized.Results: All patients presented subclavian steno-occlusion on the affected side, without steno-occlusion of the contralateral subclavian artery or bilateral VA on DSA. A high concordance was observed between CTA and DSA in grading subclavian artery stenosis (Kappa = 0.825, P = 0.000). However, only 26.3% of patients presented normal VA on CTA, whereas 73.7% of patients presented shallow VA ipsilateral to subclavian steno-occlusion. A 28.6% of patients with shallow VA were misdiagnosed as having vertebral arteriopathy. The presence of shallow VA had no significant correlation with age, gender, severity of subclavian artery stenosis, diameter of VA or model of CT scanner (all P> 0.05). Although not statistically significant, the incidence of shallow VA increased with higher SS grade.Conclusion: Carotid CTA is highly accurate for diagnosing subclavian steno-occlusion, whereas shallow VA is the pitfall of CTA in diagnosing SS. It is important to improve the recognition of shallow VA to avoid misdiagnosis.Keywords: subclavian steal, subclavian artery, vertebral artery, digital subtraction angiography, ultrasonographyhttps://www.dovepress.com/computed-tomography-angiography-in-the-diagnosis-of-subclavian-vertebr-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJGMsubclavian stealsubclavian arteryvertebral arterydigital subtraction angiographyultrasonography
spellingShingle Chen Y
Li W
Li K
Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery Steal
International Journal of General Medicine
subclavian steal
subclavian artery
vertebral artery
digital subtraction angiography
ultrasonography
title Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery Steal
title_full Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery Steal
title_fullStr Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery Steal
title_full_unstemmed Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery Steal
title_short Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Subclavian-Vertebral Artery Steal
title_sort computed tomography angiography in the diagnosis of subclavian vertebral artery steal
topic subclavian steal
subclavian artery
vertebral artery
digital subtraction angiography
ultrasonography
url https://www.dovepress.com/computed-tomography-angiography-in-the-diagnosis-of-subclavian-vertebr-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJGM
work_keys_str_mv AT cheny computedtomographyangiographyinthediagnosisofsubclavianvertebralarterysteal
AT liw computedtomographyangiographyinthediagnosisofsubclavianvertebralarterysteal
AT lik computedtomographyangiographyinthediagnosisofsubclavianvertebralarterysteal