Management of Spontaneous Vascular Shunts Involving the Cavernous Sinus

Sixteen of eighteen dural AVM's were successfully embolized. Immediate post-embolization angiography demonstrated complete or partial occlusion of the AVM's with stasis of flow in the remaining nidus or feeders (mostly branches of the internal carotid artery) in these 15 cases. The radiopaque cast of the nidus and embolized vessels was seen on skull xray. All the neuro-ophthalmological abnormalities (except one with a glaucomatous cup) resolved in the 16 cases. The intraocularpressure normalized within 2 days and the diplopia resolved within 1 month following complete occlusion of an AVM. Partially occluded lesions clinically improved in within 2 months.