Abstract

This 24-year-old man presented with an unusual case of a high-flow arteriovenous fistula (AVF). This lesion was similar to giant AVFs in children that have been previously described in the literature. In patients in whom abnormalities of the vein of Galen have been excluded and in whom presentation occurs after 20 years of age, a diagnosis of congenital AVF is quite unusual. The fistula in this case originated in an enlarged callosomarginal artery and drained into the superior sagittal sinus via a saccular vascular abnormality. Two giant aneurysmal dilations of the fistula were present. In an associated finding, a small falcine dural arteriovenous malformation (AVM) was also present. Arterial supply to the AVM arose from both external carotid arteries and the left vertebral artery, with drainage through an aberrant vein in the region of the inferior sagittal sinus into the vein of Galen. Craniotomy with exposure and trapping of the AVF was performed, with subsequent radiosurgical (linear accelerator) treatment of the dural AVM. Through this combination of microsurgical trapping of the AVF and radiotherapy of the dural AVM, an excellent clinical outcome was achieved.

View details for Web of Science ID 000081681800017

View details for PubMedID 10433319