Walsh & Hoyt: Dural Carotid-Cavernous Sinus Fistulas (Dural Arteriovenous Malformations)

The blood supply to the region of the cavernous sinus is provided by interconnecting branches of the internal and external carotid arteries, and it is from these vessels that dural CCFs often called dural arteriovenous fistulas arise. Such fistulas usually are separated anatomically into three types: (a) shunts between meningeal branches of the internal carotid artery and the cavernous sinus, (b) shunts between meningeal branches of the external carotid artery and the cavernous sinus, and (c) shunts between meningeal branches of both the internal and external carotid arteries and the cavernous sinus. Of these types, the third is by far the most common.