Indications, operative techniques, and outcomes of occipital artery-vertebral artery bypass: an institutional series

Posterior circulation cerebral bypasses often show higher risks and lower patency. Only few reports discussed occipital artery (OA)-vertebral artery (VA) bypasses. We present our illustrative cases to address current gaps in the literature on OA-VA bypass. A single-center retrospective review was conducted to include all institutional cases of OA-VA bypass, discussing the technique and outcomes. Four institutional cases undergoing a total of 5 bypasses were evaluated, including 3 males and 1 female, with median age of 65 years (range, 62–73). All patients had vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI) with recurrent strokes/TIAs due to intracranial atherosclerosis, leading to unilateral VA stenosis with contralateral occlusion (1, 25