Myelopathy caused by spinal dural arterio-venous fistula after first lumbar vertebral body fracture - a case report -.

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula is a rare vascular lesion of the spinal cord associated with progressive myelopathy. Symptoms include progressive gait dysfunction, weakness, sensory loss, and bowel and bladder dysfunction. Because these symptoms overlap with other common causes of myelopathy and the disease is rare, spinal dural arteriovenous fistula is often not suspected and the time to diagnosis is long. We report the case of a 60-year-old woman who presented with progressive lower limb weakness and gait disturbance diagnosed as spinal dural arteriovenous fistula involving a fractured L1 vertebral body.