Anomalous origins of bilateral vertebral arteries in a child with Down syndrome and Moyamoya disease. A case report

Allelopathic Potential of Lantana camara L. Leaf Extracts and Soils Invaded by It on the Growth Performance of Lepidium sativum L

Lantana camara is a noxious invasive plant that invades agricultural and natural ecosystems. In the current study, phytotoxicity of hexane and ethanolic leaf extracts of L. camara in different concentrations and soils invaded by it on Lepidium sativum were investigated under laboratory conditions. Soil toxicity was evaluated by comparing the growth of L. sativum on soils sampled from Lantana-invaded and Lantana-free sites. Results showed that extract concentrations and solvent type and their interaction significantly reduced percent seed germination and seedling growth. Compared to control (distilled water), both hexane and ethanol extracts at 5% w/v concentration significantly reduced percent germination and early seedling growth and completely inhibited seed germination at 10% w/v of hexane leaf extract, suggesting that hexane extract has a greater inhibitory effect than ethanolic extract in all the parameters measured. However, growth performance and seed yield of L. sativum grown on soil invaded by Lantana did not significantly vary from those grown on soils sampled from noninvaded sites. The results of this study generally showed that though Lantana leaf extracts have a direct negative allelopathic effect on L. sativum, soils invaded by Lantana have no toxic materials in the soil to directly or indirectly inhibit the growth of L. sativum. Further field studies on allelopathic effects of Lantana on L. sativum are recommended.

A Better Understanding of Moyamoya in Trisomy 21: A Systematic Review

Moyamoya disease is defined as stenosis of the internal carotid artery or the middle, anterior or posterior cerebral arteries with considerable collateral development. This collateral vessel has a particular appearance in angiographic examinations. Moyamoya syndrome is a term used to describe when moyamoya disease occurs in conjunction with other systemic disorders. One of the associations is Down syndrome. Moyamoya syndrome is very common in patients with Down syndrome, and the cause for this is unknown. The majority of patients present in their first decade, with the clinical presentation varying with age. The cause of moyamoya syndrome in people with trisomy 21 is unknown. This research aimed to learn more about the genesis and pathology of moyamoya syndrome in people with Down syndrome.

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were used to conduct this systematic review. Several publications connected to this topic were searched through a comprehensive database search. They were narrowed down to a final number of ten articles after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria and analyzing the quality of each work. Several possibilities were presented in these final papers to explain the link between moyamoya syndrome and trisomy 21. Trisomy 21 patients have a genetic predisposition to vascular problems. The RNF213 gene may interact with the genes on chromosome 21 that influence vascular physiology and elasticity in patients with Down syndrome, resulting in the whole picture of moyamoya syndrome.

Anomalous Origin of the Right Vertebral Artery from the Right Common Carotid Artery

The anomalous origin of the right vertebral artery (VA) from the right common carotid artery (CCA) is a rare vascular anomaly, which is usually clinically asymptomatic and found incidentally during angiographic examinations. This anomaly is invariably associated with an aberrant right subclavian artery (RSCA). Approximately 31 cases have been reported in the literature. We present a case of a right VA originating from the right CCA in a patient with Down syndrome and discuss the imaging findings, embryological etiology of the anomaly, as well as its implications for endovascular/surgical treatment.

Multiple anomalies in the origin and course of vertebral arteries and aberrant right subclavian artery in a child with moyamoya syndrome

Here we report, for the first time, a combination of five-vessel aortic arch, anomalous origin of the right vertebral artery (VA) from the common carotid artery (CCA), an aberrant right subclavian artery (SCA), and bilateral symmetrical segmental agenesis of VAs.In this case report, we present a patient with moyamoya syndrome (MMS) and Down syndrome (DS) who has bilateral symmetrical segmental agenesis of VAs, left VA originating from aortic arch and anomalous origin of right VA arising from CCA in combination with an aberrant right SCA. Therefore, five vessels are originating from aortic arch. Here, we report, for the first time, a combination of five-vessel aortic arch with an aberrant right SCA and symmetrical segmental agenesis of both VAs. The possible embryological mechanisms of the anomalies as well as an relation with MMS and DS are discussed.

Are the anomalous vertebral arteries more hypoplastic?: retrospective linear mixed model approach

Background

Small or hypoplastic vertebral artery (VA) is one of the risk factor for posterior circulation stroke. We assess whether various types of VA anomaly contribute to its diameter.

Methods

We screened 238 patients who underwent neck CT and MR angiography within 1 month. A V1 anomaly was defined as the abnormal origin of the VA on a three-dimensional MR angiography and a V2 anomaly was defined as the VA not passing through the 6th cervical transverse foramen (TF) on an axial CT image. A linear mixed model was used to evaluate the determinants of VA size.

Results

Among participants, 24 (10.1%) subjects exhibited an anomalous VA and, of the 476 VAs examined, 11 (2.3%) had an aortic origin and 27 (5.7%) had an abnormal entrance into the C6 TF. Presence of the V1 anomaly was positively associated with the V2 anomaly (P for chi-square < 0.001) and a linear mixed model revealed that being male (0.2 mm larger, P = 0.015), having a right VA anomaly (0.3 mm smaller, P < 0.001), having a V1 anomaly (0.9 mm smaller, P < 0.001), and having a V2 anomaly (0.7 mm smaller, P < 0.001) were significant predictor of VA diameter.

Conclusion

The diameters of VAs with an anomalous aortic origin or an abnormal entrance of the TF were significantly smaller than those of normal VAs. These findings suggest that anomalies of the VA detected in 3-dimensional CTA or MRA may be clues for vertebral artery hypoplasia.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12883-017-0951-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.