Percutaneous transfemoral embolization of an indirect carotid—cavernous fistula with cortical venous access to the cavernous sinus

Abstract

The authors present the case of a 61-year-old man with an indirect carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF). Many now advocate a primary transvenous approach to deal with such lesions, with packing and thrombosis of the cavernous sinus leading to fistula obliteration. Transvenous access to the cavernous sinus via the inferior petrosal sinus is the usual route of access; both surgical and transfemoral superior ophthalmic vein approaches are also well described. In the case presented, the anatomy of the CCF was unfavorable for these approaches and its dominant venous egress was via a single enlarged arterialized cortical vein. The cavernous sinus was accessed with a transfemoral retrograde approach to the cortical draining vein. Successful CCF embolization was documented radiographically and clinically. To the authors' knowledge, this procedure has not been previously described in the English literature.