Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTypesSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentPrognosis and Coping
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Types
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prognosis and Coping
The effects of cerebral vasospasm can include seizures and loss of consciousness. The condition requires urgent treatment. Vasospasm can also affect theblood vessels of the heartor the systemic circulation.
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Types of Vasospasm
Vasospasm can affect any blood vessel in the body, but it is most common in the arteries. These are the large blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to organs so they can function.
The most commonly described types of vasospasm are:
Vasospasm can also occur in other areas of the body and may play a role in conditions likeglaucoma, for example.
Vasospasm Symptoms
Rapid narrowing of an artery can cause a substantial decline or a complete blockage of blood flow to the destination tissue. This may cause diminished function or complete necrosis (death) of the blood-deprived region of the body.
Vasospasm can develop over the course of hours or several days. Symptoms will differ, depending on which part of the body is deprived of blood flow.
Cerebral Vasospasm
Vasospasm of arteries in the brain can cause a deficiency in brain function, such as stroke-like symptoms. It can also cause a stroke if the blood flow does not partially resume within a few minutes.
Symptoms of cerebral vasospasm can include:
The effects of cerebral vasospasm develop and progress quickly. If it causes a stroke, it may result in lasting neurological consequences. Sometimes cerebral vasospasm may be fatal.
Often, before cerebral vasospasm occurs, there is a history of other symptoms, such as head pain or neurological changes due to a recently ruptured brain aneurysm or a procedure. This can make it especially challenging to recognize the effects of vasospasm. Your doctors will monitor your neurological function to promptly identify this problem.
Coronary Vasospasm
Narrowing of the blood vessels in the heart can cause severely diminished blood flow to the heart muscle. This can cause dizziness,angina(chest pain), or shortness of breath.
If the blood flow does not resume within a few minutes, coronary vasospasm can cause aheart attack. Symptoms of this can include:
A heart attack can cause damage to the muscles of the heart. Long-term consequences includeheart failure, which results in fatigue, low energy, exercise intolerance, and shortness of breath. The lasting consequences of a heart attack can also include intermittent dizziness due to anirregular heart rate.
What Is Prinzmetal (Vasospastic) Angina?
A heart attack is a life-threatening event.
Systemic Vasospasm
Vasospasm can affect any part of the body, but it is not common unless there is an underlying condition. For example, in Raynaud’s disease vasospasm can cause the fingers or toes to become cold, numb, tingly, pale, or bluish.
Raynaud’s Phenomenon: What to Know
Rarely, vasospasm in the extremities can cause pain.
Generally, vasospasm refers to a relatively abrupt narrowing, and not the gradual vascular narrowing that can occur due to chronicvascular disease. Vasospasm can happen due to certain risk factors or underlying medical issues.
Causes of vasospasm include:
What Happens in the Body
The blood vessels throughout the body have smooth muscles in their walls. These are involuntary muscles that perform without conscious effort. Arteries, in particular, have the ability to dilate (widen) and constrict (narrow) due to the normal activity of the smooth muscle. This occurs due to changes in factors such as blood volume or oxygen consumption.
The vascular muscle can be abnormally reactive in certain situations, leading to the rapid vascular constriction of vasospasm:
Triggers that can lead to vasospasm can include things like irritation of the blood vessels and surrounding tissue, fluid shifts, blood pressure alterations, or electrolyte (salt) concentration disturbances.
Vasospasm is diagnosed based on clinical history, physical examination, and diagnostic testing. Your doctor may examine your extremities to identify systemic vasospasm, looking for changes like discoloration.
Coronary vasospasm can cause changes that are detectable withelectrocardiogram (EKG).
Cerebral or coronary vasospasm is detected with imaging tests that visualize the blood vessels, such asangiography.Sometimes these tests are done with an injected dye that can help distinguish the shape and structure of the involved vessels.
Medications that can be used include:
To prevent recurrent vasospasm, ganglion block is sometimes used.This procedure prevents nerve stimulation that is believed to impact the blood vessel action.
The prognosis of vasospasm can be very good if it is treated before serious complications occur.Over the long term, blood pressure can be managed, and risk factors can be controlled.
If you have a condition that causes recurrent vasospasm, such as untreated hypertension or Raynaud’s disease, it is important to talk to your doctor about prevention. This will involve a combination approach that includes lifestyle adjustments and medication.
Summary
A Word From Verywell
Vasospasm is a serious problem, especially when it affects the blood vessels of the brain or the heart. When there is a high risk of vasospasm, medical treatments are used to prevent it, and the condition is monitored so that early signs of vasospasm can be identified and treated.
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nowrouzi A, Benitez-Del-Castillo J, Kafi-Abasabadi S, et al.Peripheral vascular disease - a new vascular disease associated with normal tension glaucoma: a case report.J Med Case Rep. 2020;14(1):224. doi:10.1186/s13256-020-02533-3Maruhashi T, Higashi Y.An overview of pharmacotherapy for cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage.Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2021 Apr 13:1-14. doi:10.1080/14656566.2021.1912013Liu L, Guo M, Lv X, Wang Z, Yang J, Li Y, Yu F, Wen X, Feng L, Zhou T.Role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 in vascular function.Front Mol Biosci.2021 Apr 26;8:677661. doi:10.3389/fmolb.2021.677661Zafar A, Drobni ZD, Mosarla R, et. al.The incidence, risk factors, and outcomes with 5-fluorouracil-associated coronary vasospasm.JACC CardioOncol.2021 Mar;3(1):101-109. doi:10.1016/j.jaccao.2020.12.005Pileggi M, Mosimann PJ, Isalberti M, Piechowiak EI, Merlani P, Reinert M, Cianfoni A.Stellate ganglion block combined with intra-arterial treatment: a “one-stop shop” for cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage-a pilot study.Neuroradiology. 2021 Mar 16. doi:10.1007/s00234-021-02689-9Franzen KF, Meusel M, Engel J, Röcker T, Drömann D, Sayk F.Differential effects of angiotensin-II compared to phenylephrine on arterial stiffness and hemodynamics: A placebo-controlled study in healthy humans.Cells. 2021 May 5;10(5):1108. doi:10.3390/cells10051108
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nowrouzi A, Benitez-Del-Castillo J, Kafi-Abasabadi S, et al.Peripheral vascular disease - a new vascular disease associated with normal tension glaucoma: a case report.J Med Case Rep. 2020;14(1):224. doi:10.1186/s13256-020-02533-3Maruhashi T, Higashi Y.An overview of pharmacotherapy for cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage.Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2021 Apr 13:1-14. doi:10.1080/14656566.2021.1912013Liu L, Guo M, Lv X, Wang Z, Yang J, Li Y, Yu F, Wen X, Feng L, Zhou T.Role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 in vascular function.Front Mol Biosci.2021 Apr 26;8:677661. doi:10.3389/fmolb.2021.677661Zafar A, Drobni ZD, Mosarla R, et. al.The incidence, risk factors, and outcomes with 5-fluorouracil-associated coronary vasospasm.JACC CardioOncol.2021 Mar;3(1):101-109. doi:10.1016/j.jaccao.2020.12.005Pileggi M, Mosimann PJ, Isalberti M, Piechowiak EI, Merlani P, Reinert M, Cianfoni A.Stellate ganglion block combined with intra-arterial treatment: a “one-stop shop” for cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage-a pilot study.Neuroradiology. 2021 Mar 16. doi:10.1007/s00234-021-02689-9Franzen KF, Meusel M, Engel J, Röcker T, Drömann D, Sayk F.Differential effects of angiotensin-II compared to phenylephrine on arterial stiffness and hemodynamics: A placebo-controlled study in healthy humans.Cells. 2021 May 5;10(5):1108. doi:10.3390/cells10051108
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Nowrouzi A, Benitez-Del-Castillo J, Kafi-Abasabadi S, et al.Peripheral vascular disease - a new vascular disease associated with normal tension glaucoma: a case report.J Med Case Rep. 2020;14(1):224. doi:10.1186/s13256-020-02533-3Maruhashi T, Higashi Y.An overview of pharmacotherapy for cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage.Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2021 Apr 13:1-14. doi:10.1080/14656566.2021.1912013Liu L, Guo M, Lv X, Wang Z, Yang J, Li Y, Yu F, Wen X, Feng L, Zhou T.Role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 in vascular function.Front Mol Biosci.2021 Apr 26;8:677661. doi:10.3389/fmolb.2021.677661Zafar A, Drobni ZD, Mosarla R, et. al.The incidence, risk factors, and outcomes with 5-fluorouracil-associated coronary vasospasm.JACC CardioOncol.2021 Mar;3(1):101-109. doi:10.1016/j.jaccao.2020.12.005Pileggi M, Mosimann PJ, Isalberti M, Piechowiak EI, Merlani P, Reinert M, Cianfoni A.Stellate ganglion block combined with intra-arterial treatment: a “one-stop shop” for cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage-a pilot study.Neuroradiology. 2021 Mar 16. doi:10.1007/s00234-021-02689-9Franzen KF, Meusel M, Engel J, Röcker T, Drömann D, Sayk F.Differential effects of angiotensin-II compared to phenylephrine on arterial stiffness and hemodynamics: A placebo-controlled study in healthy humans.Cells. 2021 May 5;10(5):1108. doi:10.3390/cells10051108
Nowrouzi A, Benitez-Del-Castillo J, Kafi-Abasabadi S, et al.Peripheral vascular disease - a new vascular disease associated with normal tension glaucoma: a case report.J Med Case Rep. 2020;14(1):224. doi:10.1186/s13256-020-02533-3
Maruhashi T, Higashi Y.An overview of pharmacotherapy for cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage.Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2021 Apr 13:1-14. doi:10.1080/14656566.2021.1912013
Liu L, Guo M, Lv X, Wang Z, Yang J, Li Y, Yu F, Wen X, Feng L, Zhou T.Role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 in vascular function.Front Mol Biosci.2021 Apr 26;8:677661. doi:10.3389/fmolb.2021.677661
Zafar A, Drobni ZD, Mosarla R, et. al.The incidence, risk factors, and outcomes with 5-fluorouracil-associated coronary vasospasm.JACC CardioOncol.2021 Mar;3(1):101-109. doi:10.1016/j.jaccao.2020.12.005
Pileggi M, Mosimann PJ, Isalberti M, Piechowiak EI, Merlani P, Reinert M, Cianfoni A.Stellate ganglion block combined with intra-arterial treatment: a “one-stop shop” for cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage-a pilot study.Neuroradiology. 2021 Mar 16. doi:10.1007/s00234-021-02689-9
Franzen KF, Meusel M, Engel J, Röcker T, Drömann D, Sayk F.Differential effects of angiotensin-II compared to phenylephrine on arterial stiffness and hemodynamics: A placebo-controlled study in healthy humans.Cells. 2021 May 5;10(5):1108. doi:10.3390/cells10051108
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