Ventral Intramedullary Cervical Spinal Cord AVM

Abstract

Abstract Spinal Cord Arteriovenous Malformations (SCAVMs) are rare vascular lesions. AVMs of the cervical spinal cord are a small proportion of these. SCAVMs are generally classified into four categories based on location and structure. They may cause significant neurologic symptoms by direct mass effect or venous congestion. Surgery of these lesions may be associated with considerable morbidity and thus a multimodality approach using endovascular and radiosurgery techniques is required.Spinal Cord AVMs are rare lesions, only one-tenth as common as their cranial counterparts 1 . They may clinically present with progressive symptoms from direct mass effect or venous hypertension or acutely after hemorrhage. In 1992, Anson and Spetzler, published the most widely used classification of SCAVMs (Table 1) 2 .Type II or Glomus AVMs typically have multiple arterial feeders and drain into a venous plexus around the spinal cord. They can be particularly difficult to treat because they are intramedullary, within the spinal cord parenchyma. The mortality rate related to Type II AVMs has been reported as close to 18%. After initial hemorrhage, the rebleed rate is 10% within the first month and 40% within the first year