Case 18-2012: A man with neck pain, hoarseness, and dysphagia

摘要

In Case 18-2012 (June 14 issue), Caplan's assertion that "the diagnosis of arterial dissection is seldom made by a non-neurologist" is misguided; emergency physicians play a vital role in the timely identification of this condition. Numerous case reports and reviews exist in the emergency medicine literature, and the topic is frequently included on institutional examinations. Emergency physicians should be expected to consider acute carotid or vertebral arterial dissection in any patient presenting with headache or neck pain and focal neurologic deficits.