Double Microballoon-occluded Ethanol Embolization for Pelvic Arteriovenous Malformation: A Case Report

Abstract

A 40-year-old man was incidentally found to have right-sided pelvic arteriovenous malformation (AVM) with an aneurysmal dominant outflow vein (DOV). The AVM had two main feeding arteries forming a cluster of fine vessels shunt to the DOV. As transvenous approach was impossible due to anatomical difficulty, transarterial ethanol embolization was performed under simultaneous double microballoon occlusion of the two feeding arteries in combination with protective coil embolization of the prostatic branches. Ethanol (13 mL) was intermittently injected from both microballoon catheters until the AV shunt was completely occluded. At 1-year follow-up, contrast-enhanced CT revealed shrinkage of the thrombosed DOV without any symptom. Our case demonstrated the usefulness of simultaneous double microballoon-occluded ethanol embolization for treating a localized pelvic AVM with a few feeding arteries.