Value of Cutaneous Angiomas in the Arteriographic Localization of Spinal-Cord Arteriovenous Malformations

A careful search for segmentally related cutaneous hemangiomas in a series of 28 patients with spinal-cord arteriovenous malformations revealed six with such an association, a much higher prevalence than previously reported. Close scrutiny of the back is required to detect these often minor skin changes. Selective arteriography demonstrated opacification of both the spinal and the cutaneous vascular malformation from the same intercostal or lumbar artery, confirming the similar metameric origin of both lesions. Recognition of the skin lesion in a patient with obscure spinal-cord symptoms is important both as a clue to the etiology of the myelopathy and as an aid in the localization of arterial feeders to the spinal malformation before surgery.