Abstract
MRI findings of thirteen outpatients with AVMs in the cerebral cortical area who, for various reasons, had undergone on surgical procedures were studied in respect to the relationship between frequency of the convulsive attacks and cerebral cortical findings around the AVM. Regarding the initial symptoms, eight patients were diagnosed as having AVMs with convulsions and five were found to have had subarachnoid hemorrhage. These patients were divided into two groups, that is to say, the frequent group, in which patients had had more than four convulsive attacks during the previous two months, and the rare group, in which patients had had less than two attacks. The former contained seven patients and the latter six. In the group with many convulsive attacks, the deposition of hemosiderin, degenerative changes (edema, gliosis, atrophy and so on) of cerebral cortex around the AVM and adhesions of subarachnoid spaces over the AVM were seen with high frequency especially in the T-2 weighted images. These MRI findings suggest that convulsive attacks in AVM patients are significantly influenced and increased by bleeding from the AVM.
