Correlated factors of bleeding in patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformation

Abstract

Objective To explore the influencing factors of bleeding in patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) through observing the angioarchitecture of AVM with cerebral DSA.Methods The clinical and imaging data of 199 patients with AVM, including 107 with bleeding and 92without bleeding, were retrospectively analyzed. The relationships between bleeding and such factors as the site and size of masses, the type and site of supplying arteries, the number and pathway of venous drainage, having vascular tumor-like changes or not, the relation between AVM and aneurysm in terms of location, and the number and size of concurrent aneurysms were determined by univariate analyses and Binary logistic regression with SPSS13.0. Results Univariate analysis indicated that such factors as micro-sized (0.5-1.0 cra) and small-sized (1.0-2.0 cra) masses ofAVM, AVM underdeep location,having exclusively deep draining veins, fewer draining veins and deep feeding arteries, concurrent small aneurysms (＜5 mm), aneurysms at the end of the blood-supply artery were positively correlated to hemorrhagic presentation. The number of feeding arteries and the number of concurrent aneurysms were not correlated with hemorrhagic presentation. Having vascular tumor-like changes can decreased the risk of bleeding. When stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was employed, only micro-sized and small-sized masses of AVM, having deep feeding arteries, and aneurysms at the end of the blood-supply artery were dependent predictors of hemorrhagic presentation. Conclusion Micro-sized and small-sized masses of AVM, having deep draining veins and aneurysms at the end of the blood-supply artery are the most powerful risk predictors for hemorrhagic AVM presentation. Key words: Arteriovenous malformation; Intracranial hemorrhage; DSA