Cerebellar mutism caused by arteriovenous malformation of the vermis

Transient mutism following posterior fossa tumour resection in children is well known in the literature. To our knowledge, this phenomenon has never b een reported without surgical intervention. We report a case of cerebellar mutism secondary haemorrhage from a vermian arteriovenous malformation (AVM ), which resolved to ataxic dysarthria after 6 weeks. Embolization of the A VM was performed and the patient's clinical status continued to improve gra dually till she became normal 6 months from the insult. The mutism was due to rupture of the AVM which might correlate the cerebellar mutism with the transient vasospasm of the blood vessels supplying the cerebellum. It is po ssible for a spontaneus posterior fossa bleed to result in transient mutism similar to post surgical mutism.