Conservative Management vs Intervention for Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformations

For your next discussion with your neurologist.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1902220
Behind a paywall, but you can see the first page.

To the Editor Management of brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) has been debated in the recent medical literature. If left untreated, bAVMs confer a risk of neurological morbidity and mortality; however, treatment is associated with risks but offers the potential for lifetime eradication.

Dr Al-Shahi Salman and colleagues¹ prospectively followed up 204 patients with unruptured bAVMs over 12 years. Morbidity and mortality rates among patients managed conservatively vs those who underwent interventions (surgical resection, endovascular treatment, radiosurgery, or multimodal intervention) were compared. Over a 4-year period, the authors reported 36 events leading to sustained disability or death in the conservative management group vs 39 in the intervention group. The number of bAVM-associated symptomatic strokes or deaths in patients managed conservatively vs with an intervention was 14 vs 38, respectively.