Vertebral obstruction

Muscular branches of the vertebral artery in the neck. At positions distal to a vertebral obstruction, these muscular branches may receive blood retrogradely from occipital and ascending pharyngeal branches of the external carotid artery, or from the deep and ascending cervical arteries. In addition, anastomoses can develop between branches of the subclavian artery and external carotid artery when the common carotid artery is obstructed. 

Cholesterol also contributes to the formation of deposits on the inner walls of blood vessels. However, these deposits harden and obstruct the flow of blood. This condition results in various heart diseases, strokes and high blood pressure, and a high level of cholesterol can be life-threatening. A number of vertebrate hormones, which govern a number of physiological functions, from growth to reproduction, are biosynthesized from cholesterol. 

In severe occlusive disease of the subclavian artery (SCA) blood supply of the arm is mainly provided by reversed flow through the vertebral artery (VA) arising behind the obstruction. The so-called subclavian-steal syndrome consists of ischemic symptoms in the arm, especially after exercise, such as pain or numbness or coolness (Reivich et al. 1961). Consequently a diminished or delayed pulse in the radial artery or decreased blood pressure on the side of SCA stenosis can be palpated. Rarely neurological symptoms such as spells of dizziness may be brought about by exercise ofthe arm. Even more rare are ischemic brainstem strokes in subclavian-steal syndrome (Bornstein and Norris 1986). 

Patients normally present in the neonatal period or in infancy and there is a male-to-female ratio of 1 2. The patient may present with constipation, with obstruction if the cyst is of large size, or may present with bleeding if the cyst communicates with the normal gut lumen, and if there is ulceration of gastric mucosa within the duplication cyst. Duplication cysts may be associated with recto-genital or recto-urinary fistula, duplication of the internal or external genitalia, vertebral anomalies and multi-system congenital anomaly complexes. Female patients... 

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