Cervical artery dissection is a tear in an artery in the neck that provides blood flow to the brain. Such a tear can result in blood clots that cause stroke. A new study has found almost a five-fold increase in the number of U.S. hospitalizations for cervical artery dissection over a 15-year period.

The study is published online in Neurology.

A dissection of the artery wall is most often caused by trauma due to motor vehicle accidents but can also occur with smaller injuries. Heavy lifting has also been shown to cause dissection in some people.