Subclavian steal syndrome like appearance resulting from a vertebral artery origin stenosis: a case report.

ABSTRACT

Partial steal has been regarded as a classic ultrasound appearance of subclavian steal syndrome. We report a case with the vertebral artery origin stenosis and intact subclavian artery, which showed the similar partial steal ultrasound features. The following computerized tomography angiography confirmed the stenosis. Therefore, when an alternating flow in the vertebral artery is detected, the investigation of its origin must be performed besides the ipsilateral subclavian artery.