Application of indocyanine green videoangiography in surgery for spinal vascular malformations

We present our recent experience with indocyanine green videoangiography (ICGVA) in intra-operative evaluation of two patients with dorsal spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) and one patient with conus medullaris arteriovenous malformation (AVM). To our knowledge, the latter is the first report of this in the literature. Intra-operative ICGVA was used to identify an early filling vessel and to obliterate the site of fistulous connection. This was confirmed by a repeat ICGVA study and correlated with post-operative digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The abnormal fistulous site was identified in all three patients and disconnected. Complete obliteration was confirmed in all patients using ICGVA and with post-operative imaging. There was no untoward reaction to the dye injection. We conclude that ICGVA is a useful adjunct in surgical treatment of spinal vascular malformations since it is a real-time, non-invasive, radiation-free technique with good image resolution, and is repeatable and easily reproducible. Technical disadvantages can be minimized by proper exposure of the operative field.