Had a diagnosis of or surgery on spinal dural arteriovenous fistula?

@burrkay For those who are unfamiliar with this blood vessel malformation in covering of the spinal cord, I wanted to share this information.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dural-arteriovenous-fistulas/symptoms-causes/syc-20364280
From what I read, this is a somewhat rare finding.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7051782/
If I may ask, what have your specialists advised about possible treatment for the SDAVF?

Page not found.

@jeannettewalker Thanks for your feedback. I have corrected my post so the 2 links are separated and they both work now to access the information.

Had spinal angiogram and radiologist left a coil @ T 10 to locate the fistula for the vascular surgeon…consult tomorrow to discuss open spine surgery plan for Wednesday to fix it with Laminectomy…I have lots of questions such as “are there other fistulas on the spine”, “should I be having a brain mri to check for other locations”, etc…

@burrkay Did you write down your questions? It's a good idea because it is so easy to forget what you wanted to ask when you are in front of a surgeon. I'll be thinking of you. Would you let me know how you're doing? You have a lot on your plate and that can't be easy, but it's also the best way forward.

@jenniferhunter
Not sure if you are still there. If so, happy to update…it’s been two years now…I underwent open spine surgery at Mayo with a ligation of the fistula found at T10-T11. I continue recovery, which is a slow process. Balance is not good, but somewhat improved. Have fallen number of times!
Mayo continues to monitor my condition with neurology.
I have fallen as recently as March of 2026, and my local spine surgeon tells me I have nerve compression mostly in the lumbar…also in cervical- recommended a fusion L2-L5 with instrument down to L5-S1 previously fused.
Mayo neurosurgeon doesn’t seem to agree that a surgical solution will help with the leg weakness…recovery from a fusion will likely be nuanced by the effects of the previous AVFistula ligation and scar tissue from previous surgical procedures.
So, the beat goes on…no lumbar surgery for now…and walking and standing is difficult at best! I walk with a can, trekking poles and/or a high handled walker which I purchased while at Mayo years ago.

@burrkay It is so good to hear from you. I am not on here as much due to personal issues and I have been fostering a litter of kittens. They take a lot of time and one needs medication frequently. I am glad you are taking your time with healing and not rushing back to surgery. Scar tissue can cause issues after surgery. Have you heard of myofascial release therapy to stretch out the surgical scars including internal fascial scars? I have done a lot of this and it helped me a lot. There is a provider search at mfrtherapists.com and we have a good discussion on it that you can find in a search. In my own experience, stretching out the fascia and scar tissue releases restrictions and lets the tissue move better and improves circulation within tissues. I am glad you have your Mayo surgeon as a resource. I recently experienced leg weakness because my pelvic alignment was off. I was in PT and the therapist had pulled on my leg and I think that my femur wasn’t seated correctly in my hip joint. From there, it got weak enough that I couldn’t lift my leg much and it was painful and weak. I did a lot of stretching of everything connected to the legs and pelvis and when the muscles released the tension, my femur clunked back in where it belongs. Several weeks later with continued stretching, I am back to normal. Are you in rehab with a physical therapist?