Epidemiology of Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas in Children

Incidence and Prevalence

• Rare: DAVFs in children are exceedingly rare and account for only 10% of all intracranial AV shunts in children (11).

Age Distribution

• None: There is no known age predilection.

Sex Predilection

• None: There is no known sex predilection.

Geographic Distribution

• None: There is no known variance in incidence as a function of geographic location.

Risk Factors

• Hypercoagulable states and sinus thrombosis: Inherited prothrombotic conditions, such as antithrombin, protein C deficiency, and protein S deficiency, may contribute to the pathology (12,13).
• Previous craniotomies: Iatrogenic surgical trauma to the meninges may induce the formation of DAVFs (14).
• Previous trauma: Head trauma may induce the formation of DAVFs (15).

Relationships to Other Disease States and Syndromes

• Associations with vascular anomaly syndromes: DAVFs have been reported in association with PHACE syndrome and syndromes that involve a mutation in the phosphatase and tensin homolog gene, including PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (16).