[Modes of treatment for arteriovenous malformations of the brain]

Over the years new kinds of therapy have been incorporated into the treatment of arteriovenous malformations (AVM). Current treatment of AVM of the brain employs three well established options: radiosurgery, endovascular therapy (embolisation) and microsurgical resection. Radiosurgery is the simplest and least invasive, but 2 3 years are required to achieve total obliteration, and throughout this time there is the risk of bleeding; its use is limited to small AVM. Embolisation today plays a fundamental role more as an adjunct than when it is associated, although the other modes improve their cure interval by 25%. Microsurgery has the advantage of being the only mode of therapy that offers a degree of immediate angiographic obliteration of almost 100% and is still the most widely employed, despite its morbidity rate also being the highest. We establish an AVM management algorithm, in which, according to the size and localisation, we suggest that these therapeutic options should be used alone or in combination.

The management of these lesions requires a combined effort of all the factors that can be of any help in the solution, and these modes are more complementary than competitive in situations in which they are all valid therapeutic options.