Positional vomiting due to a thoracic spinal dural arteriovenous fistula. Case report.

The authors report the unique case of a patient with a thoracic spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) causing remote brainstem symptoms of positional vomiting and minimal vertigo. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the brain demonstrated high signal abnormality in the medulla, presumably related to venous hypertension, and spinal MR imaging revealed markedly dilated veins along the dorsal aspect of the cord. Spinal angiography confirmed the presence of a thoracic spinal DAVF.