Recurrence of a cerebral arteriovenous malformation after surgical excision

Complete resection of a cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) should el iminate the future risk of an associated intracranial bleeding. Because tot al removal of an AVM may be difficult to assess at the time of surgery, pos toperative angiography has become the accepted standard for documenting tha t complete removal has been achieved. However, even angiographically confir med excision of an AVM does not completely exclude the possibility of reble eding. Regrowth of an AVM with subsequent haemorrhage has been documented i n children and is attributed to forces acting on the immature vasculature. The authors report the case of a 21-year-old man whose AVM recurred 5 years after angiographically proven complete excision. According to the presente d case, the authors emphasise that, even in adults, angiographic documentat ion of total removal does not always eliminate the risk of reformation of a n AVM. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.