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 on set of headache and dizziness, The patient had suffered from intermitt ent seizure attacks since the age of 4, Brain computed tomography (CT) , taken 2 years prior to admission, showed compression of the quadrige minal plate by a suspicious mass lesion, His brain CT, magnetic resona nce imaging (MRI), and cerebral angiography on admission demonstrated a giant varix with evidence of haemorrhage in the cerebellum, The vari x was fed from branches of the posterior cerebral artery and drained t hrough a dilated vein into the vein of Galen, It was resected surgical ly, Surgery and/or endovascular obliteration of the AV fistula is requ ired because the varix which develops from an AV fistula can enlarge a nd rupture. (C) Pearson Professional 1996