Novos conceitos na classificação e tratamento das malformações arteriovenosas medulares

Arteriovenous malformations involving the spinal cord and its coverings are increasingly recognized as a cause of morbidity and mortality. Since the introduction of selective spinal angiography, distinctly different types of spinal vascular malformations have been described and the natural history of these entities has been mostly elucidated. They can occur of these entities has been mostly elucidated. They can occur in the dura, the pia, or in the spinal cord, either congenital or acquired. The classification presented here describes two major types of spinal AVMs, the dural arteriovenous fistulas and the intradural AVMs. Intradural AVMs are subcategorized into juvenile, glomus and cirsoid types. Dural AVMs are fed by a dural artery and intradural AVMs are supplied by a medullary artery.