Cerebral arteriovenous malformation radiosurgery after intracranial hemorrhage: A case report and literature review

摘要

Introduction. Treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations is very challenging and controversial in spite of current recommendations. Surgery is recommended in patients with hemorrhagic stroke, but in patients with good neurological status, when symptoms improve rapidly, the risk of surgical morbidity may be much higher than the risk of rebleeding. Case report. We report a case of a patient with an intracranial hemorrhage due to a ruptured arteriovenous malformation located in the right temporal region of the brain. Because of angiographic and anatomical features of the arteriovenous malformation (deep location and deep venous drainage, but also small arteriovenous malformation nidus size), radiosurgery was the preferred treatment modality. The patient was treated conservatively in the acute stage, and the arteriovenous malformation was subsequently completely eradicated with gamma knife radiosurgery. During the 3-year imaging follow-up, no sings of rebleeding were found. Also, angiography demonstrated that the arteriovenous malformation was completely excluded from the cerebral circulation. The patient was in a good condition and presented without neurological deficits or seizures during the follow-up period. Conclusion. All treatment modalities carry a risk of neurological compromise, but gamma knife radiosurgery may be a good option, even in cases with hemorrhagic presentation. It needs to be mentioned that complete obliteration takes approximately 1 to 3 years after the treatment, and in some cases it cannot be obtained.