Morphometric analysis of collagen fibrils in skin of patients with spontaneous cervical artery dissection.

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 79(9):1007-12 (2008) PMID 18223019

The aetiopathogenesis of spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) is largely unknown. Electron microscopic (EM) examination of skin biopsies of patients with sCAD revealed very subtle pathological changes of dermal connective tissue in about half of these patients leading to the hypothesis of an underlying connective tissue disorder. However, connective tissue abnormalities did not allow clear discrimination between patients and controls in our hands. Therefore, we sought to establish an objective basis for the assessment of connective tissue abnormalities in patients with sCAD using standardised morphometric assessment of collagen fibrils.