Challenges in the management of pediatric ruptured brain arteriovenous malformation: a case report
Abstract
Brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) are intracranial vascular lesions characterized by abnormal connections between the arterial and venous systems without an interposed capillary bed. Pediatric bAVMs constitute merely 12–18% of all diagnosed bAVMs, but an initial finding of bAVM rupture occurs more frequently in the pediatric population than in adults, accounting for 58–77% of all pediatric bAVM admissions.1,2 Although spontaneous pediatric intracerebral hemorrhage has an annual incidence of 1.4 per 100,000 people per year, it carries a risk of severe permanent neurological deficits, occurring in 20–40% of patients and significant mortality in up to 25% of affected individuals.3,4,5 Ruptured bAVMs are the cause of 30-50% of intracranial hemorrhages in the pediatric population and the most common cause of hemorrhagic stroke in children.1 Current therapeutic approaches for ruptured bAVMs in children include open microsurgery, endovascular embolization, as well as stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), be it isolated or as a multimodal treatment strategy. Herein, we present the case of a 6-year-old boy with a ruptured bAVM successively managed with hemicraniectomy decompression and intracranial bleeding evacuation, followed by stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) using gamma knife for the small AVM which was inaccessible during open surgery.
References
2. Zheng T, Wang QJ, Liu YQ, Cui XB, Gao YY, Lai LF, et al. Clinical features and endovascular treatment of intracranial arteriovenous malformations in pediatric patients. Childs Nerv Syst. 2014;30:647–53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-013-2277-3.
3. Jordan LC, Johnston SC, Wu YW, Sidney S, Fullerton HJ. The importance of cerebral aneurysms in childhood hemorrhagic stroke: a population-based study. Stroke. 2009;40:400–5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.518761.
4. Buis DR, Dirven CMF, Lagerwaard FJ, Mandl ES, Nijeholt GJLÁ, Eshghi DS, et al. Radiosurgery of brain arteriovenous malformations in children. J Neurol. 2008;255:551–60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-008-0739-4.
5. Gross BA, Storey A, Orbach DB, Scott RM, Smith ER. Microsurgical treatment of arteriovenous malformations in pediatric patients: the Boston Children’s Hospital experience. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2015;15:71–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3171/2014.9.PEDS146.
6. CDC. Clinical growth charts – 2 to 20 years: Boys stature-for-age and weight-for-age percentiles. 2022. [cited 2022 Feb 15]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/clinical_charts.htm.
7. Spetzler RF, Martin NA. A proposed grading system for arteriovenous malformations. J Neurosurg. 1986;65:476–83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3171/jns.1986.65.4.0476.
8. Fleetwood IG, Marcellus ML, Levy RP, Marks MP, Steinberg GK. Deep arteriovenous malformations of the basal ganglia and thalamus: natural history. J Neurosurg. 2003;98:747-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3171/jns.2003.98.4.0747.
9. Deruty R, Pelissou-Guyotat I, Mottolese C, Bascoulergue Y, Amat D. The combined management of cerebral arteriovenous malformations. Experience with 100 cases and review of the literature. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 1993;123:101-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01401864.
10. El-Ghanem M, Kass-Hout T, Kass-Hout O, Alderazi YJ, Amuluru K, Al-Mufti F, et al. Arteriovenous malformations in the pediatric population: review of the existing literature. Intervent Neurol. 2016;5:218-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000447605.
11. Di Rocco C, Tamburrini G, Rollo M. Cerebral arteriovenous malformations in children. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2000;142:145-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s007010050017.
12. Ogilvy CS, Stieg PE, Awad I, Brown RD, Kondziolka D, Rosenwasser R, et al. AHA Scientific Statement: recommendations for the management of intracranial arteriovenous malformations: a statement for healthcare professionals from a special writing group of the Stroke Council, American Stroke Association. Stroke. 2001;32:1458-71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/01.str.32.6.1458.
13. Kim H, Marchuk DA, Pawlikowska L, Chen Y, Su H, Yang GY, et al. Genetic considerations relevant to intracranial hemorrhage and brain arteriovenous malformations. Acta Neurochir Suppl. 2008;105:199-206. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-09469-3_38.
14. Laakso A, Hernesniemi J. Arteriovenous malformations: epidemiology and clinical presentation. Neurosurg Clin N Am. 2012;23:1-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nec.2011.09.012.
15. Al-Shahi R, Warlow C. A systematic review of the frequency and prognosis of arteriovenous malformations of the brain in adults. Brain. 2001;124:1900-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/124.10.1900.
16. Ondra SL, Troupp H, George ED, Schwab K. The natural history of symptomatic arteriovenous malformations of the brain: a 24-year follow-up assessment. J Neurosurg. 1990;73:387-91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3171/jns.1990.73.3.0387.
17. Hemphill JC, Greenberg SM, Anderson CS, Becker K, Bendok BR, Cushman M, et al. Guidelines for the management of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: a guideline for healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Stroke. 2015;46:2032-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/STR.0000000000000069.
18. Stapf C, Mast H, Sciacca R, Choi J, Khaw A, Connolly E, et al. Predictors of hemorrhage in patients with untreated brain arteriovenous malformation. Neurology. 2006;66:1350-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000210524.68507.87.
19. Turjman F, Massoud TF, Sayre JW, Vinuela F, Guglielmi G, Duckwiler G. Epilepsy associated with cerebral arteriovenous malformations: a multivariate analysis of angioarchitectural characteristics. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1995;16:345-50. PMID: 7726084.
20. Geibprasert S, Pongpech S, Jiarakongmun P, Shroff MM, Armstrong DC, Krings T. Radiologic assessment of brain arteriovenous malformations: what clinicians need to know. Radiographics. 2010;30:483-501. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.302095728.
21. Söderman M, Andersson T, Karlsson B, Wallace MC, Edner G. Management of patients with brain arteriovenous malformations. Eur J Radiol. 2003;46:195-205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0720-048x(03)00091-3.
22. Lawton MT, Kim H, McCulloch CE, Mikhak B, Young WL. A supplementary grading scale for selecting patients with brain arteriovenous malformations for surgery. Neurosurgery. 2010;66:702-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1227/01.NEU.0000367555.16733.E1.
Copyright (c) 2024 Celia Celia, MD, Susilawati Susilawati, MD, Johanes Ari Cahyo, MD, Robert Shen, MD, Irene Fenia, MD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Accepted 2024-02-26
Published 2024-02-26