Effect of Cervical Spondylosis on Vertebral Arterial Flow and Its Association with Vertigo

Abstract

The aim in this study was to evaluate the effect of cervical spondylosis on vertebral arterial flow. The flow changes on Doppler measurements in patients with vertigo were also assessed. Ninety-one patients with different grades of degeneration on disks and apophysis were evaluated. The severity of degeneration was determined by two observers, and the effect of cervical degeneration on vertebral arterial flow was assessed. The relation between vertigo and changes in Doppler measurements of vertebral artery in neck and cranium was analyzed. As total degeneration increases, the flow volume decreases in the right vertebral artery but increases in the left. No other correlation between degeneration scores, cervical curve measurements, and Doppler measurements was noted. According to the total degeneration scores, no differences were noted between the patients with and without vertigo. In patients with vertigo, the resistive index was higher in the neck before the vertebral foramina. In correlations of the ratios of the intra/extracranial vertebral artery with Doppler measurements, the only change was observed in the left flow volume. The severity of degeneration in disks and apophysis does not cause a considerable change in vertebral arterial flow, and also no significant finding on Doppler measurements were noted in patients with vertigo. © Clinical Rheumatology 2008.