Review of Treatments for Cervical Artery Dissection

A systematic review finds a lack of high-quality data; available evidence suggests no difference between anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy.

These authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data on the value of antithrombotic drugs, thrombolysis, and stenting for cervical artery dissection during the acute phase.

In looking for studies comparing antiplatelet with anticoagulant therapy, they found no randomized trials and 34 nonrandomized studies totaling only 762 patients. In the pooled data, the two treatments resulted in similar rates of stroke (1.9% with antiplatelets, 2.0% with anticoagulants) and death (1.8% for both). The authors found insufficient data to comment meaningfully on the value of thrombolysis and that of stenting.

Reviewing Author

J. Donald Easton, MD

Review of Treatments for Cervical Artery Dissection

Topics

Reviewing Author