Dissections of the supraaortic arteries

: Dissection of the cervical and intracranial vasculature is a rare but important cause of ischaemic stroke especially in young adults. In the majority of cases it affects the extracranial vessels, mostly the internal carotid artery. It might be categorized as spontaneous or traumatic, causing diverse clinical symptoms. Dissection might lead to ipsilateral stroke mainly by artery-to-artery embolisation. Due to its relative rarity compared to the classic ischaemic stroke of the elderly, there are much less clinically relevant information for the clinician to rely on. Several large, randomised, multicentered, prospective studies and some smaller, retrospective analyses have been published recently concerning the genetic background, epidemiology, acute care and secondary prevention of supraaortic arterial dissection which helps the neurologist to provide evidence-based care for his patient. Our aim is to give a short, up-to-date overview of arterial dissections with two case reports.