Use of a self-expanding stent with balloon angioplasty in the treatment of dural arteriovenous fistulas involving the transverse and/or sigmoid sinus: functional and neuroimaging-based outcome in 10 patients

OBJECT: The goal of this study was to evaluate the clinical and angiography results in 10 patients with transverse-sigmoid dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) treated using sinus angioplasty and dural sinus stent insertion. METHODS: Between 2001 and 2003, 10 consecutive patients (six men and four women, age range 54-79 years) who had presented with transverse and/or sigmoid sinus DAVFs with or without sinus thrombosis underwent self-expanding stent placement and balloon angioplasty. Eight fistulas involved the transverse sinus, three the sigmoid sinus, and one the torcular and occipital sinuses. According to the Djindjian-Merland grading system, there were two Type I, five Type Ila, one Type Ilb, and two Type IV DAVFs. The mean clinical follow-up period was 21.1 months. At the last follow-up examination, seven patients were asymptomatic and three were dramatically improved. The mean angiography follow-up period was 7.5 months for the available population: four patients had complete DAVF occlusion, four had significant flow reduction, and two who experienced clinical improvement refused conventional angiography control studies. Delayed computerized tomography angiography scans were obtained to evaluate stent permeability in nine of the 10 patients. Stent permeability was demonstrated in eight of the nine patients with available control studies at a mean follow up of 20.8 months. There were two transient neurological deficits but no severe and permanent complications. CONCLUSIONS: In this series, sinus stent insertion resulted in a cure or significant clinical improvement in all patients harboring a DAVF, with no severe or permanent complication. Stent placement for transverse and/or sigmoid sinus DAVFs is a promising technique whose viability should be confirmed in larger series with longer follow-up periods.