Objective.- To evaluate the results of the endovascular treatment of carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCF) treated by the author.
Patients and methods: Clinical and radiological data from 21 CCF treated between October 1994 and July 2004 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results.- Of 21 CCF 13 were direct and 8 indirect. The most frequent symptoms were red eye, murmur, exophthalmos and diplopia. Of the 21 CCF treated by endovascular techniques in the present study, 85.71% (18/21) were cured. An additional CCF was obliterated almost completely, constituting 4.76% (1/21). The attempt of embolization by both vascular routes was failed in 2 cases (2/21), 9.52%. Symptomatic complications occurred in a total of 9.52% of the cases (2/21), having a permanent neurological character in 4.76% (1/21) and transient in 4.76% (1/21%). The cured patients in our series improved their symptoms of orbital congestion in a few weeks while the paresis of oculomotors improved slowly or did not change from the preoperative period during the observation period.
Conclusion.- The endovascular embolization of the present series of CCF proved a very effective and safe treatment, managing to cure or improve in a significant and permanent way a vast majority of patients with results comparable to those reported in the international reference centers.