Telephone Stroke

Anyone who uses the telephone for a very long time, especially the elderly should often switch sides or use a hands-free telephone to avoid sustained provocative neck positions. A 63 year old man in Northern Ontario, with a history of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and ischaemic heart disease developed symptoms of slurred speech, unsteadiness and left-side weakness immediately after a 56-minute phone conversation.

Investigation showed calcification of the sellar area of the brain and small atherosclerotic plaques at the neck arteries. The man had kept his neck bent to the right side throughout the conversation, which caused compression of the already calcified right vertebral artery and resulted in a stroke.

Telephone stroke can be related to other similar conditions caused by chiropratic manipulation of the neck, protracted dental work, intubation (the insertion of a tube), x-ray positioning and beauty parlor stroke syndrome.
Source: MS. Parmarl “Telephone stroke” Canadian Medical Association Journal (Nov 2002 and Feb 2003) 1670:1104

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