Therapeutic embolization of an ascending pharyngeal artery-internal jugular vein fistula. Case report.

The authors report a case of an arteriovenous fistula between the ascending pharyngeal artery and the internal jugular vein. The importance of an exact diagnosis and some precautions to be taken during therapeutic embolization are emphasized, as well as the need for superselective cannulation of the feeding artery. The problem of differential diagnosis with glomus tumors is discussed, and a brief mention is made of the anatomy of the jugular foramen and embryology of these tumors. Only one similar case treated by embolization with solid particles was found in the literature. To date, embolization using solid particles rather than liquid agents appears to be the best treatment of fistulas of this type.