Vertebral Artery Dissection: A Differential for Childhood Stroke

Vertebral artery dissection is one of the common causes of childhood stroke. It can be either spontaneous or traumatic. It commonly occurs after a strenuous exercise. Clinical examination will not provide any evidence of the condition as the condition may be asymptomatic or present with only mild symptoms. The gold standard for detection is angiography. The treatment involves antithrombotic medications. Here we present the case of a 16-year-old female child who presented with sudden onset of paralysis secondary to vertebrobasilar ischemic stroke due to arterial dissection.