Cervico-cranial phlebography of angiomas of the spinal cord

Summary

Spinal angiomas may be drained by a very extensive venous network and preferential channels of flow opened up over great distances. These large tortuous vessels may produce signs and symptoms which, especially in poorly documented cases, may lead to erroneous diagnoses of multifocal disease such as disseminated sclerosis. The authors describe three cases in which the venous pathways have been demonstrated extending into the cranium to involve the subtentorial and deep cerebral venous systems. They stress the necessity for carrying out late frontal and lateral cranial angiograms in those cases where ascending spinal venous channels are noted in the venous phase of spinal arteriographic examinations.