Hematologic and Inflammatory Predictors of Outcome in Patients with Brain Arteriovenous Malformations

This study investigated the prognostic value of admission blood counts for arteriovenous malformation (AVM) outcomes and compared admission blood counts for patients with ruptured and unruptured AVMs.

A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent surgical treatment for a ruptured cerebral AVM between February 1, 2014, and March 31, 2020, was conducted. The primary outcome was poor neurologic outcome, defined as a modified Rankin Scale score ≥2 in patients with unruptured AVMs or >2 in patients with ruptured AVMs.

Of 235 included patients, 80 (34%) had ruptured AVMs. At admission, patients with ruptured AVMs had a significantly lower mean (SD) hemoglobin level (12.78 [2.07] g/dL vs. 13.71 [1.60] g/dL, P < 0.001), hematocrit (38.1% [5.9%] vs. 40.7% [4.6%], P < 0.001), lymphocyte count (16% [11%] vs. 26% [10%], P < 0.001), and absolute lymphocyte count (1.41 [0.72] × 10³/μL vs. 1.79 [0.68] × 10³/μL, P < 0.001), and they had a significantly higher mean (SD) white blood cell count (10.4 [3.8] × 10³/μL vs. 7.6 [2.3] × 10³/μL, P < 0.001), absolute neutrophil count (7.8 [3.8] × 10³/μL vs. 5.0 [2.5] × 10³/μL, P < 0.001), and neutrophil count (74% [14%] vs. 64% [13%], P < 0.001). Among patients with unruptured AVMs, white blood cell count ≥6.4 × 10³/μL and absolute neutrophil count ≥3.4 × 10³/μL were associated with a favorable neurologic outcome, whereas hemoglobin level ≥13.4 g/dL was associated with an unfavorable outcome. Among patients with ruptured AVMs, hypertension was associated with a 3-fold increase in odds of a poor neurologic outcome.

Patients with ruptured and unruptured AVMs present with characteristic profiles of hematologic and inflammatory parameters evident in their admission blood work.