ETIOLOGIC EVALUATION OF DURAL ARTERIOVENOUS-MALFORMATIONS OF THE LATERAL AND SIGMOID SINUSES BASED ON HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS

Controversy persists concerning the pathogenesis of dural arteriovenou s malformations (AVM's) and whether they are congenital or acquired. F urthermore, it remains undetermined whether the lesion is located in t he sinus itself or within the sinus wall. In order to elucidate the pa thogenesis of dural AVM's of the lateral and sigmoid sinuses, histopat hological profiles of this disease were studied in serial sections of completely resected lesions from three patients. The essential lesion was histologically confirmed to be a dural arteriovenous fistula withi n the wall of the venous sinuses. The etiology process of this disease and its progression were evaluated.