• Chloe Dumot, Thiebaud Picart, Omer Eker, Jacques Guyotat, Moncef Berhouma, and Isabelle Pelissou-Guyotat.
• Department of Neurosurgical Oncology and Vascular Neurosurgery, Pierre Wertheimer Neurological and Neurosurgical Hospital, Lyon, France; Claude Bernard University, Lyon, Lyon, France; CarMeN laboratory, InsermU1060, INRAU1397, INSA Lyon, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, Lyon, France. Electronic address: chloe.dumot@chu-lyon.fr.
• World Neurosurg. 2022 Nov 1; 167: e1050e1061e1050-e1061.

BackgroundTreatment of an unruptured brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM) is a matter of debate, especially for low-grade bAVM (Spetzler-Martin grade I and II). The aim is to compare the outcomes of patients with low-grade unruptured bAVM after interventional or medical management in a pragmatic manner.MethodsAdults with unruptured low-grade bAVM diagnosed between 2006 and 2016 were included. The primary end points were death from all causes and disabling stroke that resulted in a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score >2 at last follow-up.ResultsEighty-four patients presented with an unruptured Spetzler-Martin low-grade bAVM. Among these patients, 55 (65.5%) were treated and 29 (34.5%) were untreated, with no differences regarding clinical and radiologic characteristics. The modality of treatment was embolization in 25.5%, radiosurgery (alone, 30.9%; with embolization, 18.2%), and surgery (alone, 5.5%; with embolization, 20%). The rupture rate was 6.7% person-year in the untreated group; 12.7% (n = 7) of treated and 16.7% (n = 5) of untreated patients achieved the primary evaluation criteria (P = 0.744). Using a Kaplan-Meier curve, the probability of reaching this criterion at 5 years was not different between groups (P = 0.07). Complications resulting in an mRS score >2 at last follow-up occurred in 9.1%, in 80% of cases after embolization.ConclusionsThis study shows no differences between treated and untreated low-grade bAVM. Embolization seems to carry a high risk of complication and should be used with caution. The small number of cases must encourage cautious interpretations especially because of the spontaneous high-rupture rate. One major interest is to investigate center habits in pathology when treatment standards are limited.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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