SPINAL DURAL ARTERIOVENOUS-FISTULA - THE PATHOLOGY OF VENOUS HYPERTENSIVE MYELOPATHY

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVFs) are the most common type of spinal vascular malformation. The arteriovenous shunts, located ent irely outside the spinal cord, cause a clinical picture of chronic pro gressive myelopathy believed to arise from the effects of increased ve nous pressure and impaired venous drainage on the spinal cord. Despite their well-described clinical and angiographic features, no reports h ave documented the spinal cord pathology in a case of angiographically or pathologically proven SDAVF. We report such a patient in whom a sp inal cord biopsy supported increased venous pressure as a mechanism of neurologic dysfunction.