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Bow hunter’s syndrome after cervical laminoplasty in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis with bony ankylosis in the cervical spine: a case report

Abstract Bow hunter’s syndrome, or rotational vertebral artery (VA) occlusion, refers to vertebrobasilar insufficiency due to mechanical occlusion of the VA. We present a case of surgical treatment for bow hunter’s syndrome that occurred after cervical laminoplasty in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis with bony ankylosis of the facet joints. A 59-year-old female with rheumatoid arthritis experienced sudden incomplete left hemiplegia. Fifteen months earlier, the patient had undergone cervical decompression surgery between C3 and C7. MRI of the head showed cerebral infarction in the right VA area, while vertebral angiography with the head rotated to the right revealed that the right VA was occluded at the level of C3–C4. The patient was successfully treated via posterior cervical fusion from C2 to C7. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a potential risk of cervical bony ankyloses. Cervical laminoplasty for patients with cervical bony ankyloses can induce rotational VA occlusion due to spinal rotational instability.