الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Arteriovenous malformations are congenital lesions arising from abnormal blood vessels formation. It represents the most common cause of intracranial hemorrhage in the pediatric age group. Aiming for its removal or complete obliteration, surgical approaches and endovascular embolization were used. But being invasive, harbour highly potential devastating morbidities and mortality. Since the emerge of stereotactic radiosurgery, being such a minimally invasive modality, significant consideration for its usage in management of pediatric arteriovenous malformations has evolved. In an attempt to clarify the effectiveness and safety of stereotactic radiosurgery in management of arteriovenous malformations, we conducted this study. This systematic review and meta-analysis of 14 studies reporting management of pediatric arteriovenous malformations with stereotactic radiosurgery done through the last 12 years providing data and analysis for 1092 patients between the age of 2 and 18 years that have been treated in different centers and institutes all over the world since 1984. This study results revealed that stereotactic radiosurgery in management of pediatric arteriovenous malformations does have a high overall obliteration rate with low morbidity and mortality rates. Stereotactic radiosurgery is an effective and safe modality in management of arteriovenous malformations in the pediatric age group. Guided by the results of our study, it is recommended that stereotactic radiosurgery is to be used either exclusively or in combination as a primary or an adjuvant modality in multi-modality management protocols, but yet emphasizing that the management protocol must be tailored for each patient separately according to different characteristic features and factors. |