Cb. Falkson et al., STEREOTAXIC MULTIPLE ARC RADIOTHERAPY .3. INFLUENCE OF TREATMENT OF ARTERIOVENOUS-MALFORMATIONS ON ASSOCIATED EPILEPSY, British journal of neurosurgery, 11(1), 1997, pp. 12-15
Although radiosurgery obliterates the majority of arteriovenous malfor
mations (AVMs) and cures patients of further haemorrhage, the perceive
d beneficial effect on the epilepsy associated with it is less certain
. Two recent publications suggest that radiosurgery benefits the assoc
iated epilepsy. In a consecutive series of 101 AVM patients presenting
for radiosurgery to SE Bartholomew's Hospital, 24 had a history of fi
ts; 16 were evaluable for analysis of fit control. Fifteen of the sixt
een patients (94%) had improvement in fit control, 10/16 (63%) becomin
g fit free. This improvement appeared to correlate with response to tr
eatment on follow-up angiography and in 11/15 patients this occurred w
ith no change or a reduction in anticonvulsant in medication. No patie
nt suffered a deterioration in the epilepsy. These data are discussed
in the context of the only two previous reports in the Literature and
the mechanisms of action of treatment.