Microsurgical ligation of spinal arteriovenous fistulae: techniques

Abstract

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (dAVF) is an acquired abnormal arterial-to-venous connection within the spinal dura with a wide range of clinical presentations and natural history. Spinal dAVF occurs when a radicular artery makes a direct anomalous shunt with a radicular vein within the dura of the nerve root sleeve. Spinal dAVFs are the most common vascular malformation of the spine. The authors present a patient who presented with sudden temporary lower extremity weakness secondary to an L-1 spinal dAVF. The details of microsurgical techniques to disconnect the fistula are discussed in this video. The video can be found here: http://youtu.be/F9Kiffs3s6A.