• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.370-374
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• 2018

Subclavian steal syndrome is a type of obstructive artery disease caused by severe stenosis and occlusion of a left proximal subclavian artery or brachiocephalic trunk. The resulting vertebro-basilar insufficiency symptoms are due to retrograde blood flow from the contralateral vertebral and basilar arteries into the low-pressure ipsilateral upper extremity vessels. For that reason, patients usually experience dizziness or arm ischemic symptoms. Neurointervention is an effective treatment for ischemic stroke, including the subclavian artery stenosis. This paper reports a patient with subclavian steal syndrome who had a vertebral artery Doppler waveform change in duplex sonography and a 12 mmHg difference in interarm systolic blood pressure. A stenotic lesion of the subclavian artery was treated effectively by inserting a precise stent. The follow up examination showed that the vertebral artery Doppler waveform change disappeared and recovered and that the 12 mmHg difference in interarm systolic blood pressure decreased to 5 mmHg after treatment.