Surgical Treatment of Unruptured Brain AVMs: Short- and Long-Term Results

Unruptured brain AVMs (bAVMs) remain a controversial subject for practicing neurosurgeons, especially in the light of ARUBA and other observational studies. This retrospective study aims to analyze our experience with unruptured bAVMs to see whether it is beneficial in the long-term and how it corresponds to large literature trials. The study comprised 160 adult patients with unruptured bAVMs surgically treated in Burdenko NMC (Moscow) in 2009–2017. Mean age: 33.4 ± 10лет. Clinical presentations were: seizures in 99 (61.9%), chronical headaches—49 (30.6%), ischemic symptoms—4 (2.5%), asymptomatic in 8 (5%) patients. Spetzler-Martin scale: I—18 pt. (11.3%), II—71 pt. (44.4%), III—60 pt. (37.5%), IV—11 pt. (6.8%). Good outcomes (mRS = 0–2) at discharge were achieved in 149 (93.1%), satisfactory (mRS—3)—9 (5.6%). Follow-up was complete for 97 (60.6%) patients, mean—59.3 (13–108 month). Excellent outcomes (mRS = 0–1) reached in 94.8%. For epilepsy patients, Engel I outcome was found in 50 (84.8%); for chronic headaches, 43 (66.1%) patients reported improvement. Postoperative visual field defects were followed in 22 of 55 (40%), complete recovery was reported in 6 (27%) and partial recovery in 8 (36%) patients. Overall, our results support the conclusion that surgery for low-grade bAVMs (S-M I–II) is a beneficial, low-risk option.