title: Detection of enlarged cortical vein by magnetic resonance imaging contributes to early diagnosis and better outcome for patients with anterior cranial fossa dural arteriovenous fistula.
abstract: Twelve patients (10 men, 2 women) with anterior cranial fossa dural arteriovenous fistula (AVF) were treated at our institute between January 1976 and March 2002. Intracranial hemorrhage was the presenting symptom in six patients. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings identified abnormal cortical veins as flow voids in four of five patients. Angiography was the basis of the diagnosis in all patients. Surgery was the primary treatment in nine patients. The other three patients refused intervention and managed conservatively. Surgical morbidity was negligible and the treatment outcome was highly dependent on the clinical status at presentation. In contrast to the reported high incidence of intracranial hemorrhage in patients with dural AVF in the anterior cranial fossa, only half of our study population presented with hemorrhage. Enlarged cortical veins in the frontobasal area could be detected as flow voids on MR images. This finding contributed to the early diagnosis and treatment of patients treated at our institution for dural AVF in the anterior cranial fossa, and to the better outcomes we obtained in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, The University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan. neuros@clin.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Mohammad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jamous
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Junichiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Satomi
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uno
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagahiro
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D020785:Central Nervous System Vascular Malformations / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D002550:Cerebral Veins / Q000473:pathology*; D035262:Cranial Fossa, Anterior / Q000473:pathology; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome