Adjunctive efficacy of intra-arterial cone-beam computed tomography angiography in the endovascular treatment of vertebra–venous fistula

Abstract

Vertebro–venous fistula (VVF) refers to an abnormal arteriovenous shunt connecting the extracranial vertebral artery and the paraspinal venous structures. Coil embolization is the mainstay treatment of choice for VVF, and accurate definition of the endovascular target is mandatory. Traditionally, catheter-based angiograms are used for treatment planning, but those images lack bony information to delineate the precise relationship of the drainage veins to the spinal structure. Herein, we presented two VVF cases and demonstrated how we used intra-arterial cone-beam computed tomography angiography (IA-CBCTA) to determine the safe embolization zone for dense coil packing. We propose that IA-CBCTA is a useful adjunct in the endovascular planning of VVF by offering an image consisting of bony and vascular information.