National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, a program of the National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences

Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome


Other Names:
RCVS
Categories:
The following summary is from Orphanet, a European reference portal for information on rare diseases and orphan drugs.
orphanet

Orpha Number: 284388

Definition
Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is an infrequent cerebrovascular disorder characterized by severe headaches with or without focal neurological deficits or seizures, and a reversible segmental and multifocal vasoconstriction of cerebral arteries.

Epidemiology
RCVS occurs predominantly in females before the age of 50.

Clinical description
The most common clinical feature of RCVS is severe acute headache. The major complication of RCVS is ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.

Etiology
The exact pathophysiology of RCVS remains unknown and the prevailing hypothesis involves a transient disturbance in the control of cerebral vascular tone. RCVS may occur spontaneously or be provoked by various precipitating factors, the most common being postpartum and exposure to various vasoactive substances such as illicit drugs and selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors.

Visit the Orphanet disease page for more resources.
Last updated: 1/1/2015

These resources provide more information about this condition or associated symptoms. The in-depth resources contain medical and scientific language that may be hard to understand. You may want to review these resources with a medical professional.

In-Depth Information

  • The Monarch Initiative brings together data about this condition from humans and other species to help physicians and biomedical researchers. Monarch’s tools are designed to make it easier to compare the signs and symptoms (phenotypes) of different diseases and discover common features. This initiative is a collaboration between several academic institutions across the world and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Visit the website to explore the biology of this condition.
  • Orphanet is a European reference portal for information on rare diseases and orphan drugs. Access to this database is free of charge.
  • PubMed is a searchable database of medical literature and lists journal articles that discuss Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome. Click on the link to view a sample search on this topic.

Questions sent to GARD may be posted here if the information could be helpful to others. We remove all identifying information when posting a question to protect your privacy. If you do not want your question posted, please let us know.