Review of Thyroid Cartilage Compression of the Vertebral Artery

Thyroid cartilage compression of the Vertebral Artery (VA) has been implicated as a rare cause of Rotational Vertebral Artery Occlusion (RVAO). 10 cases have been reported in the literature. This has a higher tendency to affect males and younger patients than other forms of stroke. Patients present with multiple episodes prior to diagnosis. Radiologic studies prove crucial for confirming this condition. An aberrant VA course appears to be a necessary factor. All cases suffer from right side VA compression by the superior thyroid cornu. Conservative therapy with antiplatelet treatment is employed commonly. Most patients have definitive treatment with surgical resection of the right superior thyroid cornu. Theories proposed for these characteristics include VA dominance, structural variability in the thyroid cartilage between genders and also variable thyroid cartilage ossification. Given these findings, we propose the term “thyro-vertebral artery syndrome” for this condition.