Abstract
We report two cases of arteriovenous malformations (AVM) of extremity and shoulder for which intravascular therapy was effective.
Case 1: A 15-year-old boy presenting shoulder pain. When he was 13 years old, he felt radical shoulder pain with movement of the right upper extremity which eventually led to difficulty in raising the affected extremity. When he was 14 years old, the progressive symptoms were diagnosed as vascular lesions by contrast-enhanced computed tomography scanning, and he was then referred to our hospital. He was diagnosed with AVM because of the existence of a nidus around the right shoulder blade. The symptoms were improved after transarterial embolization (TAE) was repeated for three times.
Case 2: A 15-year-old girl presenting femur pain. When she was 3 years old, swelling at the back of the femur was noted. When she was 11 years old, she felt pain of the affected site for the first time. She was diagnosed as having AVM, and was referred to our hospital. We performed intravascular therapy involving vascular embolization or sclerotherapy for three times, and the symptoms improved with the nidus reduced significantly.
Improvement of symptoms is a very important outcome of the AVM therapy. Since intravascular therapy involving TAE or sclerotherapy is minimally invasive and can be performed repeatedly, its application for the improvement of AVM, especially in children, is emphasized in this study.
