Giant intracranial varix arising from an arteriovenous fistula.
A case of a giant intracranial varix arising from an arteriovenous (AV) fistula is reported. This 16 year old boy presented with a sudden onset of headache and dizziness. The patient had suffered from intermittent seizure attacks since the age of 4. Brain computed tomography (CT), taken 2 years prior to admission, showed compression of the quadrigeminal plate by a suspicious mass lesion. His brain CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cerebral angiography on admission demonstrated a giant varix with evidence of haemorrhage in the cerebellum. The varix was fed from branches of the posterior cerebral artery and drained through a dilated vein into the vein of Galen. It was resected surgically. Surgery and/or endovascular obliteration of the AV fistula is required because the varix which develops from an AV fistula can enlarge and rupture.
Man Bin Yim
Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology, School of Medicine, Keimyung University, Taegu, Korea.
Lee
J C
JC
Eun Lk Son
Kim
D W
DW
Kim
I H
IH
Jeong Geun Lim