Single-center experience with endovascular treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations with intent to cure in pediatric patients.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to report the incidence of technical complications and immediate complete angiographic occlusion, identify associated factors with failure of complete occlusion and identify predictors of technical complications in a single-center experience of pediatric arteriovenous malformations (AVM) treated with endovascular treatment with intent to cure.

METHODS

Patients between 1 and 18 years of age undergoing endovascular embolization between 2011 and 2020 were included.

RESULTS

A total of 120 embolizations were performed in 69 patients. The most frequent clinical presentation was intracerebral hemorrhage (76.8%). Immediate obliteration of the malformations was achieved in 40 (58%) cases. The technical complication rate was 15%. AVM nidus size between 3 and 6 cm (OR: 3.91; 95% CI 1.1-13.85; p = 0.035) and the presence of multiple feeders (OR: 5.08; 95% CI 1.41-18.28; p = 0.074) were predictive of failure of immediate complete occlusion. The location of the temporal lobe (OR: 7.83; p = 0.048), deep venous drainage (OR: 4.67; p = 0.112), and the presence of an intranidal aneurysm (OR: 3.58; p = 0.134) were predictors of technical complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Embolization of pediatric AVMs with intent to cure shows a high rate of technical complications and acceptable immediate occlusion rates. Nidus size and the presence of multiple feeders were predictive of failure of complete occlusion, while temporal lobe location, deep venous drainage, and the presence of an intranidal aneurysm were predictors of technical complications. Further studies are needed to determine the best therapeutic approach in the pediatric population.