Intracranial Dural Arteriovenous Malformations

Abstract

Twenty-eight patients with dural arteriovenous malformations, mostly located along the cranial base and in the occipitomastoid region, were studied angiographically. It was often possible to define a relationship between the clinical syndrome and the angiographic pattern of venous drainage. Intracranial hemorrhages occurred in those patients in whom the venous drainage of the arteriovenous malformation was limited to the pial veins, while the syndrome of a cavernous sinus fistula was present when retrograde venous drainage from the anomaly extended through the distensible ophthalmic veins. If the venous outflow was antegrade through the usual channels, the clinical syndrome reflected only the presence and volume of the arteriovenous shunt.