The two main causes of<unk>  can be broadly categorized as either spontaneous or traumatic. Arterial walls are comprised of three layers: an intima (the innermost layer), media (the middle muscular layer), and adventitia (the outermost layer). A tear in one of the layers of the arterial walls can result in blood collecting within a pocket between the layers of the artery, which can result in an intramural hematoma and/or aneursymal dilation. At the moment, there is no definitive location for the dissection, with some believing dissection initially occurs within the connective tissue and vasa vasorum of the media while others believe dissection begins with an intimal tear. Spontaneous Spontaneous<unk> s are dissections that occur without any trauma to the neck. More specifically, this can include potential causes such as hereditary connective tissue diseases, family history of strokes, infections and other miscellaneous causes such as smoking, hypertension, migraines and contraceptive use. Hereditary connective tissue diseases include autosomal polycystic kidney disease, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome, fibromuscular dysplasia, and osteogenesis imperfecta type 1 although studies have shown that the link between hereditary connective tissue diseases and<unk>  is low, ranging from 0-0.6% in one study and 5-18% in another study. Traumatic Traumatic<unk> s are dissections that occur after any sort of trauma to the neck, ranging from minor trauma such as nose-blowing or sneezing to severe trauma such as roadside accidents. Most traumatic dissections are secondary to some form of rapid decelerations injuries resulting in hyperextension or hyperflexion with rotational injury of the neck.
Cervical artery dissection
Vertebral artery dissection
Rectus sheath hematoma
Jugular foramen syndrome
ROSAH syndrome
Carotid artery dissection
Spinal epidural hematoma
Middle cerebral artery syndrome