Treatment of unruptured arteriovenous malformation. Experience in a community hospital

We experienced 17 patients with unruptured arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in our department. Eight patients presented with epileptic seizure and 9 cases were diagnosed incidentally. Management strategies were as follows: extirpation following embolization in 3, extirpation alone in 2, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone in 3, SRS following embolization in 1 while no treatment was given on 8 patients based on informed consent. The mean follow-up period was 55.1 months. Disappearance of the lesion was confirmed in 8 of 9 patient with some treatment. In the group, there was no mortality. The 2 morbidities involved postoperative epidural abscess and epilepsy in 1, and transient hemiparesis and motor aphasia following embolization in the other. No hemorrhage was reported in patients with no treatment during the follow-up period. One patient with a frontal AVM has been bothered by intractable seizures in reaction to anticonvulsant medication. Reviewing the literatures, the mean risk of bleeding of the unruptured AVMs is 1 to 3% per year, while factors predicting hemorrhage are controversial. The prescribed treatment, nonetheless, should be defined from an objective assessment of what is optimal for each individual patient as well as from local expertise. (author)