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Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;133(11):1165.

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Diagnosis: Left vascular loop

Vascular loop refers to the bend or coil of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) in the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) or the internal auditory canal (IAC) that occurs in close proximity to the vestibulocochlear nerve. It is thought to be related to unilateral symptoms of tinnitus, vertigo, and sensorineural hearing loss, but its true clinical significance remains controversial. Postmortem and radiographic studies have not revealed consistent relationships between the presence and types of AICA loops and cochleovestibular symptoms.

The anatomic variability of the AICA was studied in 56 CPAs in 26 adult cadavers and found to arise from the basilar artery (98%) or from the vertebral artery (2%) as a single (92%) or duplicate (8%) artery.¹ The AICA loop has most commonly been found medial to the porus acusticus (52%), at the porus (34%), and lateral to the porus (14%) into the IAC. In a wide range of cadaveric studies, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;133(11):1163.
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