Cervical artery dissection is a tear in an artery in the neck that provides blood flow to the brain. Such a tear can result in blood clots that cause stroke. A new study has found almost a five-fold increase in the number of U.S. hospitalizations for cervical artery dissection over a 15-year period. The study is published on April 2, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
A dissection in the artery wall is most often caused by trauma due to motor vehicle accidents but can also occur with smaller injuries. Heavy lifting has also been shown to cause dissection in some people.
“Cervical artery dissection is an important cause of stroke, especially in people under 50, so it is crucial to detect it right away,” said Shadi Yaghi, MD, of Brown University in Providence,…