Bow Hunters Syndrome/Stroke-Rotational occlusion of vertebral artery

@ajp2019 Hello. I am a Mayo spine surgery patient, and my surgeon Dr. Jeremy Fogelson has written medical literature about Bow Hunter's Syndrome. The neurologist that he had evaluate me also has literature about Bow Hunter's. I also searched with Google Scholar for Mayo Clinic and Bow Hunter's Syndrome and found some literature and I looked up the author's names on the Mayo Website. Here are some links for the Mayo Rochester campus and biographies of doctors to contact at Mayo. I can tell you from my experience as a surgical patient, that the care I received was skilled and compassionate and I had a great recovery. I highly recommend Dr. Fogelson and I am one of his patient stories you will find with his profile. I had unusual symptoms with my spine problem and found Dr. Fogelson because of a paper he co-authored. I did also find some literature related to Bow Hunters and authors at the Mayo Jacksonville campus.

Dr. Fogelson would be a good start. You can call Mayo and set up a patient account and arrange to send in imaging for evaluation, and you can ask that it be sent to Dr. Fogelson. From what I'm finding, there are several doctors at Mayo Rochester with interests in Bow Hunter's. I hope this helps.
https://journals.lww.com/contempneurosurg/Citation/2014/02280/Bow_Hunter_Syndrome.1.aspx
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/fogelson-jeremy-l-m-d/bio-20055624
One of the authors of this paper is Dr. John Bartleson, the neurologist I saw in the spine center.
https://thejns.org/view/journals/j-neurosurg/83/4/article-p737.xml
https://jnis.bmj.com/content/4/Suppl_1/A60.1.short
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/brinjikji-waleed-m-d/bio-20433847
This link is literature from the Jacksonville campus.
https://jnis.bmj.com/content/4/Suppl_1/A60.1.short

Hi Jennifer - Sincere thanks for responding. I will check out the links you provided. PS I am in Florida, so I'll try Jacksonville first. PPS - Anyone ever heard of the scan I need? (TCCD = Imaging B-mode trans-cranial color-coded duplex combines pulsed wave Doppler)

@ajp2019 I think calling Mayo at Jacksonville would be a great first step. They can advise which doctors have interests in treating Bow Hunter's syndrome. Doppler imaging is an ultrasound where there put a wand in some gel on your skin and pick up images of blood circulation. The red or blue color indicates direction of blood flow and if it is an artery or vein. That color coding is used for this type of imaging all of the body. I've had Doppler imaging done on myself before. This link about the Atlas (C1) and Axis (C2) has a section that talks about Bow Hunter's Syndrome if you scroll it down. It is a technical article written by a physical therapist.
- Do you really have atlantoaxial and craniocervical instability? A critical view on the overdiagnosis of AAI/CCI https://mskneurology.com/do-you-really-have-atlantoaxial-and-craniocervical-instability/

I hope you'll share your status with us after you are evaluated and how you are doing. My C1 & C2 have been prone to rotating on their own from muscle spasms, but that was before my spine surgery and I also have thoracic outlet syndrome putting uneven pressure on my spine with extra tight muscles on one side which pulls harder on one side of my spine. I still can have a spasm that will cause some rotation, but not to the same degree as before. I make sure that I don't turn my head to the side while I'm sleeping.

Mercy east in St. Louis 1 doctor said he had this he was in for 9 Days no doctor told us what to do or not do maybe someone at Mayo could help

@ptpt5151 Hello and welcome to Connect. I am a cervical spine surgery patient and had surgery at Mayo in Rochester, MN. My surgeon is Dr. Jeremy Fogelson, and I read his research literature and he has a paper about Bow Hunter's Syndrome. You can request that a particular surgeon reviews your records which they do at no charge. If they feel they can help, they will contact you, and they will return your records. You will need all your imaging to send in. It takes a while to get into Mayo, but it is well worth it. Here is his profile.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/fogelson-jeremy-l-m-d/bio-20055624
Let me know if I can be of further help. You would be in great hands at Mayo. My surgery was a fusion at C5/C6.

Hi @ptpt5151, I'd like to add my welcome. To inquire about how Mayo Clinic experts can help, you can call Mayo Clinic. Here is all the contact information and links for frequently asked questions http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

You'll also notice that I moved your message to this existing discussion about Bow Hunter's Syndrome. I did this so that you can see the conversation between @jenniferhunter and @ajp2019 and connect with them.

Can you expand on what you mean by "he was in for 9 days"?

I have to have a CT Head/Neck multi-imaging scan at Mayo today, June 29th, in order to rule out Bow Hunters Syndrome, a very rare type of stenosis of the arteries in the cervical spine that impedes blood flow to the brain whenever someone turns his neck to the right and/or left. There are conflicting research studies as to whether or not this syndrome can be treated or not. Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has this syndrome or who knows anything about it. Thank you.

Hi @rbcookson, You might want to join the following discussion to read what others have shared.

--- Bow Hunters Syndrome/Stroke-Rotational occlusion of vertebral artery: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/bow-hunters-syndromestroke-rotational-occlusion-of-vertebral-artery/

@rbcookson, how did the CT scan go? Did you get clarity on your diagnosis?

It showed I did not have Bow Hunters Syndrome but I have an appointment on Aug 14th with Dr. Shepherd, a neurocardiologist to determine if I need more testing to rule out a vascular problem as the cause of my diplopia when turning my head to right or left. Will keep you posted!