Arteriovenous malformation and glioma: coexistent or sequential? Case report

A 9-year-old girl was evaluated for behavioral changes and seizures. Initial computerized tomography and cerebral angiography revealed a left cerebral vascular mass, diagnosed as an arteriovenous malformation. An embolization procedure was attempted but was terminated before completion because the patient developed a right hemiparesis. Her right-sided neurological deficit subsequently increased with enlargement of the mass lesion. On follow-up cerebral angiography approximately 2 years later the vascular malformation was no longer demonstrated. Biopsy of the mass lesion revealed it to be an anaplastic astrocytoma. This case is reported with a review of the literature on the coexistence of a brain tumor and a vascular malformation, the difficulties in diagnosis, and possible etiologies.