Search Results (8)

Background and Clinical Significance: The coexistence of spinal hemangiomas and dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) is uncommon. Unclear imaging and progressive neurological impairment require early surgical management. Case Presentation: A 76-year-old woman presented with progressive thoracolumbar pain and worsening bladder dysfunction. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the thoracic spine revealed a round-shape expansive lesion at T11 with spinal cord edema and homogeneous contrast enhancement. Despite a chronic presentation, the subacute progression of bladder dysfunction and spinal cord edema warranted timely intervention. Intraoperatively, a vascular malformation resembling a dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF), unrecognized at pre-operative imaging, was found in association, and histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of hemangioma. The mechanism of coexistence remains unclear, although venous hypertension due to fistula could induce vascular malformations. Conclusions: This case emphasizes the importance of thorough imaging, timely intervention and intraoperative assessment in patients presenting with a suspicion of spinal hemangioma; it may also provide awareness of potentially associated concurrent lesions such as SDAVFs, unrecognized at pre-operative imaging, and technical insights during surgery. Full article

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (sDAVFs) are rather uncommon lesions of the spine. In sDAVFs, which represent the most frequent form of vascular malformations of the spine, operative treatment remains the most common treatment modality. In operative surgery, visualization and pathology detection have a key impact on the results of the neurosurgical treatment of an sDAVF. The exoscope is one of the most recent imaging devices developed alongside the microscope and endoscope. The exoscope is being increasingly applied in neurosurgical procedures as an alternative to operative microscopes due to various advantages, such as its non-space-occupying camera, excellent visualization of the anatomical details and the perfect teaching possibilities it thus provides. In this publication, we present our experience in the treatment of a patient with an sDAVF, where surgery was performed exclusively with an ORBEYE-exoscope for the entire duration of the procedure. This report outlines the workflow and some of the technical pitfalls involved in managing this vascular pathology using the exoscopic technique. Full article

Background and Objectives: Binocular optical microscopy (OM) paved the way for a new era in brain and spine neurosurgery fields with the introduction of microsurgery. Despite its enormous contribution to modern neurosurgery, OM presents some intrinsic limitations that surgeons need to face during procedures such as prolonged non-ergonomic positions and decreased vision quality to the assistant eyepiece. To overcome these limitations, in recent years, new operative tools have been introduced, such as exoscopes. Here, we present our experience with exoscopes in spine surgery. Materials and Methods: In the period between January 2022 and December 2023, we gradually implemented the use of a high-definition 4K-3D exoscope (ORBEYE^TM, Olympus, Japan) in patients undergoing spinal surgery. Results: A total of 243 patients underwent spine surgery with exoscope magnification (47 intradural tumors, 99 lumbar degenerative cases, 79 cervical degenerative cases, 5 dorsal calcified disk herniations, 4 dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs), and 9 others). We compared this cohort with a similar cohort of patients operated in the same period using OM based on different endpoints: operating time, complication rate, and infection rate. We did not find any statistically significant difference in any of the endpoints between these two groups. Conclusions: In our experience, the exoscope provides a better resolution of spinal anatomy and higher quality real-time images of the surgery for the entire OR team and improves the ergonomic posture of both surgeons, without lengthening the operating time and without increasing the rate of adverse events. Prospective studies with a larger cohort of patients are needed to further validate these findings. Full article

Background: Successful treatment of spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVF) requires prompt diagnosis with definitive fistula localization and non-delayed treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used for the screening and follow-up of SDAVF, although the value of MRI signs such as myelopathy and flow voids is controversial. Therefore, we investigated the predictive value of MRI signs pre- and post-treatment and their correlation with the neurological status of SDAVF patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of 81 patients who underwent surgical or endovascular treatment for SDAVF at our hospital between 2002 and 2023. A total of 41 SDAVF patients with follow-up MRI of 4.6 [2.9–6.5] months (median [interquartile range]) post-treatment and clinical follow-up of 3, 6, and 12 months were included. Results: The extent of pretreatment myelopathy was seven [6–8] vertebral levels, with follow-up MRI showing no myelopathy in 70.7% of cases. The pretreatment flow voids extended over seven [4.5–10] vertebral levels and completely disappeared on follow-up MRI in 100% of cases. The modified Aminoff–Logue scale of disability (mALS) was four [2–7] pretreatment and two [0–4.5] at the third follow-up, with improvement in 65.9% of patients. The American Spinal Injury Association motor score (ASIA-MS) was 97 [88–100] pretreatment and 100 [95–100] at the third follow-up assessment, with 78% of patients improving. Pretreatment ASIA-MS correlated with the extent of myelopathy at admission (R²: 0.179; 95% CI: −0.185, −0.033; p = 0.006) but not with flow voids at admission, while pretreatment mALS showed no correlation with either MRI signs. The improvement in ASIA-MS and mALS between admission and the last follow-up showed no correlation with the extent of pretreatment myelopathy and flow voids or with pos-treatment MRI changes. The diagnostic sensitivity of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) for localization of the fistula was 68.3% (28/41). Conclusions: The severity of the clinical condition in SDAVF patients has a multifactorial cause, whereby the ASIA-MS correlates with the extent of myelopathy pretreatment. MRI changes after treatment showed no correlation with the clinical outcome and cannot be used as a prognostic factor. Full article

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) is among the most common arterial shunt diseases typically found in middle aged or older men. Herein, we aimed to clarify the reasons for misdiagnoses and delayed diagnoses of SDAVF, determine how these affect prognoses, and establish how they can be prevented. We conducted a PubMed/MEDLINE literature search using “spinal dural arteriovenous fistula”, “delayed diagnosis”, “late diagnosis”, and “misdiagnosis” terms. We identified 18 articles, including 965 SDAVF cases. Patients were predominantly males (71.8–100.0%) (mean age: 53.5–71.0 years). Misdiagnoses rates varied (17.5–100.0%) and encompassed many conditions. The mean time between early manifestations and confirmed diagnosis was approximately 10–15 months and from the first radiologic image revealing dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) features to diagnosis was 9.2–20.7 months. Posttreatment outcomes showed a significant improvement in motor functions, gait, and micturition, particularly in patients exhibiting preoperative symptoms over a short period. SDAVF is frequently misdiagnosed or subject to delayed diagnosis, causing poor clinical outcomes. SDAVF symptoms including progressive lower-limb weakness, paresthesia, and vesicorectal dysfunction are indications for spinal magnetic resonance imaging with subsequent spinal angiography, wherein DAVF is evidenced by extensive T2 hyperintensity and flow-void abnormalities. We reported a representative case with delayed diagnosis. Full article

Spinal dural arterio-venous fistulas (SDAVF) are rare vascular pathologies. Degree of symptom improvement after surgery remains unclear. We evaluated surgically treated SDAVF patients for functional outcome and symptom improvement. Retrospective inclusion of consecutive patients treated surgically in our department between 2007–2019. We measured functional outcome using the McCormick Scale and modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score. We included 27 patients with a median follow-up of 8.8 months (IQR 27.8). Mean age was 61.8 years (SD 8.4), 40.7% were female. Most frequent location was the thoracic spine in 15 (55.6%) followed by lumbar in 8 (29.6%), cervical in 3 (11.1%) and sacral spine in one patient (3.7%). Most common presenting symptom was progressive myelopathy (24/27 patients, 88.9%). In all patients the SDAVF was completely resected; however, four patients (14.8%) required a second surgery. Six patients (22.2%) deteriorated immediately after surgery with five recovering to baseline upon discharge. On discharge, presenting symptoms had improved in 17 patients (63%); 8/25 patients (32%) had a McCormick score of 1. Twenty (74.1%) continued to improve on follow-up. In total 23/27 patients (85.2%) improved. In the univariable analysis mJOA score on admission was associated with mJOA score on follow-up (coefficient 0.6, 95%CI 0.4–0.81, p < 0.001), whereas age was inversely associated (coefficient −0.1, 95%CI −0.19–0.01, p = 0.08). Untreated SDAVF leads to progressive myelopathy which may result in considerable disability. Surgical disconnection and resection provides a safe treatment option with low perioperative morbidity and excellent chances for symptom improvement or progression prevention. Full article

Neck and back pain may be noted like a first symptom in rare diseases: spinal cord ischemia and spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF). Spinal cord ischemia is a rarer pathology, compared with cerebral ischemia, yet the morbidity and mortality are comparable in both cases; furthermore, classifying the acute loss of function in the spine, encountered in spinal cord ischemia as an important neurological entity. SDAVF presents the same clinical symptoms as spinal cord ischemia, but even though it has a progressive character, the impact in the quality of patients’ lives being equally as important. Between August 2012–August 2017 we admitted through the hospital emergency department 21 patients with spinal cord ischemia and 11 patients with SDAVF (only self-casuistry). Demographic (age, gender), clinical, imagistic (Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging), paraclinical data as well as history, time to diagnosis, the visual analogue scale for pain (VAS score), risk factors, surgical and medical treatment, evolution, neurorehabilitation, were all used to compare the two lots of patients. The aim of this study was to observe potential differences in the demographics, symptomatology, VAS scores and treatment in comparison for spinal cord ischemia and SDAVF, to facilitate the further recognition and management in these diseases. In group A we have 21 patients with spinal cord ischemia (14 females, 7 males). The median age was 41.3 years (range 19–64). The median time to diagnosis was 7 h. The most frequent symptoms were acute neck or back pain at onset (100%), motor deficits (95.24%), sensory loss (85.72%), and sphincters problems (90.48%). The most common location was the lumbosacral spine (14 cases; 66.67%; p-value = 0.03) for spinal cord ischemia and the thoracic spine (7 cases, 63.64%; p-value = 0.065) for SDAVF. The treatment of spinal cord ischemia was medical. In group B we included 11 patients (6 females, 5 males). The median age was 52.6 years (range 28–74). The median time to diagnosis was 3 months (range 2 days–14 months). Patients have progressive symptoms: neck or back pain (100%), gait disturbances (100%) and abnormalities of micturition (100%). The treatment of SDAVF was surgical occlusion of fistula. The proportion of severe VAS score (7–10) in patients with spinal cord ischemia was significantly higher than that in patients with SDAVF (100% vs. 18, 19%; p-value = 0.051). Taking into consideration that the usual findings and diagnosis of spinal cord ischemia and SDAVF are still challenging for neurologists and in some cases the difficulties are related to technical limitations, we consider these entities to be rare but very important for the life of our patients. Patients were grouped into spinal cord ischemia and SDAVF status and those with acute or chronic pain conditions, measured by the VAS score. Patients with spinal cord ischemia develop acute neurological symptoms. They are much younger than the patients with SDAVF and the recovery rate is higher. Patients with SDAVF develop a progressive myelopathy and they suffer considerable neurological deficits. Imaging the lesions with MR angiography or MRI, we can confirm the diagnosis. Full article

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) is a rare vascular malformation of the spine. Only a limited number of cases of SDAVF have been reported in the current literature. We describe the case of a 74 year old male who presented with gradually progressive bilateral lower extremity weakness and bladder dysfunction and was subsequently diagnosed with SDAVF affecting both the thoracic and lumbar spine. The patient later underwent embolization with some improvement in his neurologic symptoms. Full article