Vertebral arteriovenous fistula: an unusual complication of Swan-Ganz catheter insertion.

The leading causes of trauma to the major craniocerebral vessels include penetrating and non penetrating trauma [1 , 2]. Because the vertebral artery is confined to the incomplete bony canal formed by the successive foramina in the transverse processes of the upper cervical vertebrae, it is less susceptible to penetrating injury than is the carotid artery [2]. A review of the literature has uncovered no previous examples of pseudoaneurysm or arteriovenous fistula specifically involving the vertebral artery as a complication of percutaneous internal jugular vein cannulation [3, 4]. We describe