Spontaneous carotid-cavernous fistula during pregnancy or in the postpartum stage

Abstract

The authors report two cases of spontaneous carotid-cavernous fistula that occurred during pregnancy. One patient was a 21-year-old woman whose symptoms improved and in whom disappearance of the carotid-cavernous fistula was confirmed by cerebral angiography after she aborted in the 12th week of pregnancy. The other patient was a 25-year-old woman in whom a carotid-cavernous fistula occurred at about the 28th week of pregnancy. The symptoms became aggravated 3 weeks after a normal delivery. Carotid-cavernous fistula was confirmed by cerebral angiography, and the clinical symptoms then improved. On the basis of cerebral angiographic findings, both patients were considered to have dural arteriovenous fistulas in the region of the cavernous sinus and both demonstrated spontaneous improvement.