Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in a Patient with a Co-Existent Posterior Communicating Artery Aneurysm and Cervical Spine Aneurysm Associated with Ventral Arterio-Venous Fistula

Abstract

Severe spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is predominantly caused by aneurysm rupture, with non-aneurysmal vascular lesions representing only a minority of possible causes. We present the case of a 58-year old lady with a coincidental posterior communicating artery (PCom) aneurysm and a high cervical spine arterio-venous fistula associated with a small ruptured aneurysm. After the emergency clipping of the PCom aneurysm, additional diagnostic procedures—repeated digital subtraction angiography and spinal magnetic resonance imaging, revealed the actual cause of the SAH, a type-A ventral intradural fistula at cervical level C2/3. The fistula was treated micro surgically via a ventral approach using C3 somatectomy and C2-4 stabilization after the initial failure of endovascular therapy. Furthermore, the patient was treated for complications associated with severe SAH, including acute hydrocephalus and meningitis. In cases where the SAH pattern and perioperative findings do not suggest an intracranial aneurysm as the source of SAH, further diagnostic investigation is warranted to discover the real cause. Patients with severe non-aneurysmal SAH require a similar algorithm in diagnosing the cause of the hemorrhage as well as complex conditions such as ruptured aneurysms.

Keywords

• subarachnoid hemorrhage
• spinal av fistula
• aneurysm
• hydrocephalus