Dural fistulas involving the transverse and sigmoid sinuses: results of treatment in 28 patients.

Twenty-eight symptomatic dural fistulas involving the transverse and sigmoid sinuses were treated between 1978 and 1986 with a variety of treatment modalities. Occipital artery compression therapy resulted in a complete cure in two of nine patients (22%) and improvement in three of nine (33%). There were no complications from this treatment. Patients who were excluded or in whom compression therapy failed were treated with embolization alone or in conjunction with surgery. Of the 17 patients who underwent embolization alone, ten were cured and six were improved. Six patients had a combination of embolization and surgery; four patients were cured and two improved. There were three complications in this series, one related to surgery and two related to embolization.