Tortuosity of Carotid and Vertebral Arteries: A Magnetic Resonance Angiographic Study

Nine patients (group A) were found on magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to have excessive carotid artery, vertebral artery, and vertebrobasilar junction tortuosity. A control group (group B) were age‐ and sex‐matched to group A patients, were selected randomly from our MRA or stroke data banks, and had not undergone MRA for evaluation of migraine, "carotidynia," or pulsatile tinnitus. Factors more prevalent in group A patients included migraine, chronic daily headache, carotidynia, pulsatile tinnitus, and a positive family history of headache. Factors more prevalent in group B pat1ents included a positive family history of stroke, large‐vessel atherosclerosis, and scan evidence of ischemic infarctions; many group B patients had undergone MRA for stroke or transient ischemic attack evaluation. Men were slightly underrepresented at 44%, and were younger than women (34 ± 6 years vs. 43 ± 3 years; p = 0.01). Relationships in this preliminary study between arterial tortuosity and migraine seem evident