Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula: the pathology of venous hypertensive myelopathy.
Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVFs) are the most common type of spinal vascular malformation. The arteriovenous shunts, located entirely outside the spinal cord, cause a clinical picture of chronic progressive myelopathy believed to arise from the effects of increased venous pressure and impaired venous drainage on the spinal cord. Despite their well-described clinical and angiographic features, no reports have documented the spinal cord pathology in a case of angiographically or pathologically proven SDAVF. We report such a patient in whom a spinal cord biopsy supported increased venous pressure as a mechanism of neurologic dysfunction.
Hurst
R W
RW
Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, USA.
Kenyon
L C
LC
Lavi
E
E
Raps
E C
EC
Marcotte
P
P
D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D001164:Arteriovenous Fistula / Q000473:pathology*; D004388:Dura Mater / Q000098:blood supply*; D005260:Female; D005402:Fistula / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D014680:Veins / Q000002:abnormalities*; D014690:Venous Pressure