[Results of angiographic investigations in basilar artery insufficiency (author's transl)]

Angiographies were performed in 75 selected patients with basilar artery insufficiency. In only one case was there an indication for vascular surgery to the vertebral artery, and in two cases for an uncoforaminectomy, whereas in 13 cases prophylactic desobliteration of the internal carotid artery was performed. Thus vascular surgical consequences of angiography of the supraaortic vessels in basilar insufficiency are minimal. However, personal observations and reports in the literature indicate that the indications for surgery to the vertebral artery or the cervical spine will increase if functional investigations can be performed in various positions of the cervical spine by means of selective catheter angiography.