• Anup P Nair, Raj Kumar, Anant Mehrotra, A K Srivastava, Rabi Narayan Sahu, and Prakash Nair.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226014, India.
• Childs Nerv Syst. 2012 Apr 1;28(4):593-8.

BackgroundTreatment of pediatric arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) is always a challenge considering their hemorrhagic presentation, associated morbidity and mortality, and the potential long life span of these children. Spetzler-Martin grades I-III are the grey zones as far as the treatment options are concerned. With a generous multimodality approach, one can reduce the morbidity and mortality to a considerable extent.ObjectiveTo analyze the demographic and clinico-radiological profile of pediatric intracranial AVMs belonging to Spetzler-Martin grades I-III and their outcome following microsurgical excision.MethodsPediatric patients (≤18 years of age) from a period of January 2001-January 2011 were included in the study. Patients with associated aneurysms or tumors were excluded from the study. Post-operative DSA/CT angiography was done within 6 weeks after surgery. Outcome was analyzed in terms of neurological improvement according to Medical Research Council Grade (MRC), obliteration of the AVM in post-operative angiography and Modified Rankin score. Outcome based on Modified Rankin score was favorable with a score of 0-2 and unfavorable when the score was 3-6.ResultsA total of 36 patients with a mean follow-up of 12.75 months were identified. Thirty-one patients (86.1%) presented with hemorrhage while only 15 (41.6%) presented with seizures. There were 25 (69.4%) males and 11 (30.6%) females. Spetzler-Martin grade was grade I in six patients, grade II in 20 patients, and grade III in ten patients. All patients underwent surgical excision of the AVMs and post-operative angiography showed a 100% obliteration rate. There was a favorable outcome in 86.1% of the patients according to modified Rankin score.ConclusionThe aim of treating a pediatric AVM should be complete obliteration of the AVM considering the high risk of hemorrhage and the morbidity and mortality associated with hemorrhage. With careful planning and adopting a multimodality treatment, complete obliteration can definitely be achieved.

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