A Case Report of Spinal Dural Arteriovenous Fistula: A Threatening Cause of Paraplegia

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVFs) are rare entities and are often misdiagnosed. They usually occur in adults above the age of 50 and 60 years. While they most commonly involve the thoracolumbar region, they can occur anywhere along the spinal cord. Clinical symptoms are insidious and not specific and may progress slowly, over several years, to severe myelopathy with paraplegia. Early diagnosis is critical because the deficits are potentially reversible if carefully treated. Delayed treatment may result in severe and irreversible neurological disability. Imaging diagnosis relies on MRI and conventional spinal angiography. Once identified, the dural arteriovenous fistula should be immediately treated by either endovascular embolization or surgical ligation. In this report, we present a case of SDAVF in a 65-year-old male that was managed by open surgery.