Abstract
The result of radiation therapy for arteriovenous malformations (AVM) are analyzed and the indication of radiation therapy are discussed in this paper.
This study was conducted on 8 patients who received radiation therapy at the Yamaguchi University Hospital and DEL SOL Hospital in Buenos Aires from 1973 to 1988. There were three males and five females. The ages ranged from 7 to 67 with the average of 39.9. There were four cerebral AVMs and four dural AVMs. Among the cerebral AVMs, one was located in the right thalamus, two in the left central sulcus and one in the left parietal lobe. Among the dural AVMs, three were spontaneous carotid cavernous fistulas (CCF) and one was a dural-pial AVM of the transverse-sigmoid sinus.
Three cerebral AVMs and three dural AVMs were subjected to conventional radiation of 3000-4000 rads with linear accelerator X ray. One cerebral AVM was subjected to 2750 rads of gamma X ray stereotaxic radiosurgery. The dural-pial AVM was subjected to had conventional radiation combined with embolization.
The radiosurgery obliterated the AVM in the central sulcus. The conventional radiation obliterated two spontaneous CCFs.
From these results, it is concluded that conventional radiation is useful in the treatment of spontaneous CCFs, but is not effective for cerebral AVMs. Stereotaxic radiosurgery is recommended for the treatment of cerebral AVMs.
