Traumatic Carotid-Cavernous Fistula with Pontomesencephalic and Cervical Cord Venous Drainage Presenting as Tetraparesis
Correspondence: Address correspondence to Diego A. Herrera, MD, Neuroradiologist, Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology Section, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 32D 80B 34, Medellin, Colombia. E-mail: [email protected].
Funding sources: None.
Commercial associations: None.
Conflict of interest to disclose: None.
J Neuroimaging 2011;21:73-75.
ABSTRACT
A 27-year-old male presented with progressive ascending myelopathy leading to tetraparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine showed dilated perimedullary veins and spinal cord edema. Catheter angiography demonstrated a direct carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF) with prominent pontomesencephalic and perimedullary venous drainage. Successful coil embolization of the fistula was performed with improvement of the patient's symptoms. To our knowledge, no case of a direct CCF with perimedullary drainage has been previously reported.
