Background The treatment of low grade SpetzlerMartin (SM) brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) has been debated in unruptured cases. Nevertheless, in clinical practice there are cases where treatment is preferred; in these cases a very low complication rate is mandatory. In ruptured cases, early and complete obliteration of the nidus is the preferred strategy. Objective To achieve curative embolization, ideally in a single session, by dual microcatheterization techniques with arterial and/or venous access, according to the angioarchitecture. Materials and methods This is a prospective, single-center study carried out between January 2008 and January 2016. Patients with ruptured and unruptured brain AVMs, with SM grades I and II, treated by endovascular means, were included. Demographics, clinical presentation, angioarchitecture, and procedurerelated complications were analyzed. Angiographic and clinical results were reported. Results Seventy-three patients, aged 40.5±17.8 years, were included. More than 60% of the patients presented with ruptured AVMs. Initial SM grades were I for 22% and II for 78% of the patients. Preprocedural modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score was 0–2 for 53 (72.6%), 3 for 12 (16.4%), 4 for 5 (6.8%) and 5 for 3 (4.1%) patients. Procedure-related morbidity was 2.7% and procedurerelated mortality was 0%. Ninety percent (90.5%) of the patients were independent in their everyday lives (mRS score 0–2) at 6months. In all but one case (95%) the embolization was curative. Conclusion Stand-alone endovascular treatment for SM grade I and II brain AVMs seems safe and effective, allowing for complete obliteration of the nidus, with low complication rates. A study of larger cohorts is needed.

doi.org/10.1136/neurintsurg-2018-014390, hdl.handle.net/1765/117862
Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Iosif, C., de Lucena, A.F., Abreu-Mattos, L.G., Ala, V.H.E., El-Ghanam, A., Saleme, S., … Mounayer, C. (2019). Curative endovascular treatment for low-grade Spetzler-Martin brain arteriovenous malformations: a single-center prospective study. Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery, 11(7), 699–705. doi:10.1136/neurintsurg-2018-014390