A case report of intracranial vertebral-basilar artery hypoplasia presenting with episodic dizziness

Abstract

Basilar artery hypoplasia (BAH) is usually accompanied with unilateral vertebral artery hypoplasia (VAH); however, BAH with bilateral VAHs composing vertebral-basilar artery hypoplasia (VBAH) is indeed a rare curiosity. A 61-year-old woman presented with episodic dizziness for ten years. It accompanied with headache, bilateral tinnitus and blurred vision. Time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiogram with T2 true fast imaging in steady state precession confirmed the VBAH, rather than a stenosis. Symptoms subsided after daily oral aspirin and life-style change has been recommended for three months. The following one year was uneventful, and hearing improved. Finally, we conclude that the episodic dizziness with sensori-neural hearing impairment might attribute to the VBAH. It appears that life-style change was the main therapy and the antiplatelet was simply a supplementary one.