During soccer practice a fifteen year old girl experienced a sudden onset of pain in the left side of her neck and collapsed. Upon arrival at the emergency room she had right hemiparesis and expressive aphasia. On CT angiography a left carotid arterial dissection was suspected. Symptoms improved during the first three days but worsened again on the fourth and a CT scan showed an ischemic area in the brain. Conventional angiography showed decreased perfusion in the left middle cerebral artery but no evidence of dissection or thrombus. The most likely diagnosis was thought to be reverse cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome and the girl was treated with calcium channel inhibitors. Here we report the case and review the literature.