Imaging of Blunt Cerebrovascular Injuries

e B cerebrovascular injuries (BCVI) is a collective term, encompassing injuries to one or both of the carotid and vertebral arteries, often secondary to direct trauma. Despite the previous belief that BCVI are relatively rare with estimated incidence rates as low as 0.1% in all blunt trauma cases,1 recent literature presented herein reports a significantly higher incidence of these injuries reported to be 1.25% and the incidence has been shown to increase up to 2.7% in patients with Injury Severity Score 16.2 Unfortunately, BCVI can present with a wide spectrum of symptoms, ranging from being asymptomatic to death. In fact, nonspecific signs and symptoms in the setting of BCVI, in part, contribute to associated high morbidity and mortality. Mortality rates as high as 59% have been reported previously.3 Often, nitially asymptomatic BCVI concur with a delayed diagnosis and treatment, hich further contributes to poor prognostic outcomes. Therefore, adequate creening criteria, appropriate imaging modalities, and prompt treatment nitiation must be routinely implemented to attenuate morbidity and morality rates. This article aims to discuss the incidence rate of BCVI in an attempt to ustify the importance of appropriate screening protocols. Literature pertainng to imaging modalities used in the setting of BCVI, as well as proposed reatment approaches, are summarized with representative cases.