Treatment of Scalp Arteriovenous Malformation

Objective : The object of this study is to present the treatment experience of the 6cases of scalp arteriovenous malformations[AVMs] focus on treatment strategy. Methods : Six patients with scalp AVM were treated during past 12years. We analysis the clinical characteristics of the lesions, treatment methods and management outcomes. Results : The lesions were located on temporal in 2patients, parietal in 2patients, frontal and occipital area in each one. Four of six patients had a trauma history on scalp. The presenting symptoms were progressive enlarged pulsating mass with or without bruit. Four of the six lesions had the large fistula in the lesion. Two patients were treated with surgical resection alone, three patients with proximal feeding artery balloon[s] occlusion followed by surgical resection, and one patient with coil embolization through trans-venous route alone. We obtained good results in all patients. Conclusion : Most of scalp AVM can be completely cured by Judicious selection and a combination of treatment modalities, i.e., surgery only, or embolization only, or embolization plus surgical therapy. Although embolization became a primary therapy for this sort of scalp AVM recently, the selection of treatment modality should be chose based on the size, angioarchitecture, and clinical presentations of the lesion.