What are the symptoms of subclavian stenosis?
What are the symptoms of subclavian stenosis?
Upper extremity symptoms include arm claudication or muscle fatigue, rest pain, and finger necrosis. Neurologic issues include vertebrobasilar hypoperfusion including visual disturbances, syncope, ataxia, vertigo, dysphasia, dysarthria, and facial sensory deficits.
What happens if the subclavian artery is blocked?
The symptoms that do occur are tied to the area that is blocked. You may experience arm pain or muscle fatigue when using your arms above your head, or doing any activity that demands more oxygen-rich blood flow to the arms. Other symptoms can include: Dizziness (vertigo) with arm activity.
Is subclavian steal syndrome life threatening?
Some causes of subclavian steal syndrome can lead to serious and even life threatening complications without treatment.
What is the treatment for subclavian stenosis?
Most subclavian blockages can be treated with stents, but in some cases, surgery may be needed. With surgery, blood flow is rerouted across the blockage using a small plastic tube called a bypass graft. Both stents and surgery are highly effective treatments and often help symptoms improve.
What causes subclavian artery stenosis?
The most common cause of subclavian artery stenosis is atherosclerosis but other causes include congenital abnormalities such as arteria lusoria (aberrant subclavian artery) or right sided aortic arch that can cause compression of the right subclavian artery leading to congenital subclavian steal syndrome,,.
How do you test for subclavian artery stenosis?
A meticulous examination of segmental pulses and pressures, as well as judicious use of duplex ultrasonography, magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomography angiography, or conventional angiography can confirm the presence of subclavian stenosis.
What type of doctor treats subclavian steal syndrome?
With many years of extensive vascular experience, the highly trained vascular surgeons at Western Vascular Institute specialize in diagnosing & treating subclavian steal syndrome.
Is subclavian stenosis rare?
The Subclavian Steal Syndrome is a rare yet well-known phenomenon that presents when a steno-occlusive lesion of the proximal subclavian artery results in the flow reversal of the vertebral artery, giving rise to vertebrobasilar insufficiency [1,2].
How is subclavian artery stenosis diagnosed?
Can you stent the subclavian artery?
Angioplasty and stenting of the left subclavian artery is a good option for the treatment of coronary subclavian steal syndrome, with high rates of technical and clinical success. Besides, does not preclude surgical treatment, in the case of more than one unsuccessfull endovascular attempt.
Can subclavian stenosis cause high blood pressure?
An increased prevalence of subclavian artery stenosis is associated with a history of smoking, high systolic blood pressure and peripheral arterial disease and inversely associated with higher levels of high density lipoprotein.
Can subclavian steal Cause Stroke?
With subclavian steal syndrome, if neurologic symptoms do occur, they tend to be transient (eg, hypoperfusive transient ischemic attack) and seldom lead to stroke.
What are the treatment options for subclavian steal syndrome?
However, if the cause of subclavian steal syndrome is determined to be atherosclerotic stenosis or occlusion of the proximal subclavian artery, patients should be treated with lifelong antiplatelet therapy to reduce the risk of associated myocardial infarction, stroke, and other vascular causes of death.
How to diagnose subclavian steal syndrome?
Preferred examination. First diagnosed angiographically in the early 1960s, SSS is now most commonly diagnosed during Doppler ultrasound (US) examination of the neck arteries. Color Doppler US is the preferred examination for subclavian steal syndrome, but it is operator dependent.
Blood flow to both the affected subclavian artery (which supplies the arm) and the vertebral artery are thus diminished. When this happens, blood can flow in the reverse direction (away from the brain) in the affected vertebral artery, to supply the blocked subclavian artery.
What causes subclavian steal syndrome?
Atherosclerosis is regarded as the most common cause of subclavian steal syndrome. The disease is defined as the narrowing and hardening of the arteries as a result of plaque buildup around the arterial wall.