Anterior condylar arteriovenous fistula mainly fed by peripheral branches of the bilateral internal maxillary arteries: illustrative case

BACKGROUND: The main feeding artery of an anterior condylar arteriovenous fistula (AC-AVF) is the ascending pharyngeal artery and rarely the internal maxillary artery. OBSERVATIONS: A 58-year-old male with a history of sinusitis since adolescence presented with a 5-year history of bilateral pulsatile tinnitus and a 2-month history of right ocular symptoms. Angiography showed that the peripheral branches of the bilateral internal maxillary arteries were the main feeding arteries of the AC-AVF and that they gathered in the clivus with a relatively large shunted pouch in the left jugular tubercle. Shunt flow drained to the right external jugular vein via the right superior ophthalmic vein. A sheath was placed in the right external jugular vein, and a small distal access catheter was guided to the right superior ophthalmic vein to allow the microcatheter to reach the shunted pouch. Selective angiography of the contralateral sphenopalatine artery allowed us to confirm the gathering site of the feeding arteries and the shunted pouch and archive the complete occlusion. LESSONS: Selective angiography of the contralateral sphenopalatine artery may be useful to confirm the gathering site of the peripheral branches of the bilateral internal maxillary arteries in an AC-AVF.