Traumatic arteriovenous fistula of the vertebral artery.

A 22-year-old woman sustained a stab wound injury of the right vertebral artery. Initial treatment with endovascular embolization using platinum coils in a local hospital could not stop the bleeding. The patient was transferred to our department in hypovolemic shock. Further angiography revealed an arteriovenous fistula. Open surgical revision occluded the vertebral artery and the patient recovered without neurological deficit.