Natural History and Treatment of Symptomatic Spinal Cord Arteriovenous Malformations

Spinal cord arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are an important, albeit uncommon, etiology for myelopathy. They can cause spinal cord compression, venous congestion, and sometimes hemorrhage. The gold standard for diagnosis is angiography, but sometimes flow voids can be observed on MRI. Investigators detail their experience with 466 patients with symptomatic AVMs identified through a Chinese database.

Median follow-up was 12 months. Average age of onset was 25 years; onset was acute in 57% of cases and gradual in 43%. Spontaneous improvement or recovery of neurologic deficits occurred in 210 patients, typically in the first month, and was more common in acute-onset than gradual-onset patients (77% vs. 3%). Lesion location was most commonly …