Pituitary adenoma associated with dural arteriovenous fistula

The association of a pituitary adenoma with a dural arteriovenous fistula supplied by the posterior branches of the middle meningeal artery and draining into the transverse sinus is reported. Among the possible etiopathogenic explanations of such an unusual association, a progressive mechanical obstacle to the dural venous blood drainage to the left wing of the compressed cavernous sinus and subsequent opening of embryonic dural arterio-venous shunts with reversal of flow has been considered.