Cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistula complicated by pontine venous congestion. A case report.
BACKGROUND
Brainstem venous congestion is a rare but serious complication of the CS-dAVF (cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistual).


METHODS
A 71-year-old woman presented with right abducens nerve palsy. Brain MRI showed a solitary lesion in the right upper pons. Cerebral angiogram revealed the right CS-dAVF with retrograde venous drainage into the cerebellar cortical veins and the anterior pontomesencephalic vein. The patient was treated with stereotactic radiosurgery, resulting in complete resolution of the pontine lesion and the neurologic symptom.


CONCLUSIONS
A solitary brainstem lesion can be caused by CS-dAVF as a rare complication. Careful diagnosis and treatment are important to avoid permanent neurologic deficits.
Iwasaki
Masaki
M
Department of Neurosurgery, Aomori Prefecture Central Hospital, Aomori, 030-8553, Japan.
Murakami
Kensuke
K
Tomita
Takahiro
T
Numagami
Yoshihiro
Y
Nishijima
Michiharu
M
D000368:Aged; D001164:Arteriovenous Fistula / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D002426:Cavernous Sinus; D002550:Cerebral Veins / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004388:Dura Mater / Q000098:blood supply*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011149:Pons / Q000098:blood supply*; D016634:Radiosurgery; D014689:Venous Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology