Coexistence of a single cerebral arteriovenous malformation and spinal arteriovenous malformation

The coexistence of a cerebral and a spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM) together is extremely rare. We present a 31-year-old woman, who suffered from severe root pains in the left upper extremity. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed the abnormal vessels in the left occipital lobe and upper cervical segment of spinal cord. Cerebral angiography and spinal angiogram revealed two AVMs: One was in the right occipital lobe and the other was located in the C1-C2 segments of cervical cord. She had no other vascular lesions, and nor did her other family members. As the primary problem in her was left upper extremity root pains, which we considered was related to the spinal AVM, the first therapeutic treatment was focused on spinal AVM. The cerebral AVM of the right occipital lobe was surgically resected after part embolization.