INTRODUCTION: Intracranial developmental venous anomalies (DVAs) are considered benign vascular dispositions; they are asymptomatic in the vast majority of cases. They represent extreme variations of the venous drainage and may rarely be responsible for focal venous ischemia leading to neurological dysfunction. The aim of the study is to analyze a group of patients with symptomatic DVAs with capillary stain at angiography. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and radiological features of patients in which a DVA was considered the cause of a neurological event. In all the patients, the DVA was suspected by angio-CT or MRI and conventional angiography was performed to detail the angioarchitecture of the DVA. RESULTS: A total of 7 patients and 11 DVAs were identified; three patients had multiple DVAs. Three DVAs were frontal, two were parietal, two were thalamic, one was in the midbrain, and three were cerebellar. Patients presented with progressive neurological deficits, seizures, or cerebral hemorrhage. All these DVAs were associated with a peculiar capillary stain at angiography. CONCLUSION: Although being normal anatomical variations, DVAs may create, because of hemodynamic unbalance, venous ischemia that induces angiogenic phenomena. MRI shows the suffering of the brain and angiography witnesses this angiogenesis under the form of capillary stain. Conventional angiography can thus provide useful information to recognize "atypical" symptomatic DVAs.
INTRODUCTION:Intracranial developmental venous anomalies (DVAs) are considered benign vascular dispositions; they are asymptomatic in the vast majority of cases. They represent extreme variations of the venous drainage and may rarely be responsible for focal venous ischemia leading to neurological dysfunction. The aim of the study is to analyze a group of patients with symptomatic DVAs with capillary stain at angiography. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and radiological features of patients in which a DVA was considered the cause of a neurological event. In all the patients, the DVA was suspected by angio-CT or MRI and conventional angiography was performed to detail the angioarchitecture of the DVA. RESULTS: A total of 7 patients and 11 DVAs were identified; three patients had multiple DVAs. Three DVAs were frontal, two were parietal, two were thalamic, one was in the midbrain, and three were cerebellar. Patients presented with progressive neurological deficits, seizures, or cerebral hemorrhage. All these DVAs were associated with a peculiar capillary stain at angiography. CONCLUSION: Although being normal anatomical variations, DVAs may create, because of hemodynamic unbalance, venous ischemia that induces angiogenic phenomena. MRI shows the suffering of the brain and angiography witnesses this angiogenesis under the form of capillary stain. Conventional angiography can thus provide useful information to recognize "atypical" symptomatic DVAs.
Authors: Diego San Millán Ruíz; Jacqueline Delavelle; Hasan Yilmaz; Philippe Gailloud; Enrico Piovan; Alberto Bertramello; Francesca Pizzini; Daniel A Rüfenacht Journal: Neuroradiology Date: 2007-08-17 Impact factor: 2.804
Authors: S Horsch; P Govaert; F M Cowan; M J N L Benders; F Groenendaal; M H Lequin; G Saliou; L S de Vries Journal: Neuroradiology Date: 2014-04-23 Impact factor: 2.804
Authors: João de Deus da Costa Alves; José Roberto Falco Fonseca; Gleyson Moraes Rios; Jorge Murilo Barbosa De Sousa Journal: Radiol Case Rep Date: 2022-08-11