Bow Hunter syndrome elicited by vertebral arterial occlusion after total arch replacement

Abstract

An 83-year-old man with arch aneurysm underwent total arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk and extra-anatomical left subclavian artery bypass. One year later, he felt dizziness associated with head rotation. The hypoplastic left vertebral artery was occluded by a thrombus extending from the left subclavian artery ligation site, and the dynamic stenosis of right vertebral artery by head rotation induced dizziness. He was diagnosed with Bow Hunter syndrome. Vertebral artery hypoplasia represents a possible cause of this rare complication. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing Bow Hunter syndrome after total arch replacement.

Keywords: Bow Hunter syndrome; Total arch replacement.