Long-term outcomes and prognostic factors after surgery alone for brain arteriovenous malformation.

Objectives: There is a paucity of data regarding the long-term hemorrhage/progression outcomes of brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM). The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of surgical treatment alone over a long follow-up period.

Materials and methods: All patients (n = 356) harboring Grade I-III BAVMs who had been surgically treated alone between January 2010 and December 2019 were included. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis with proportional hazard models were implemented to identify the predictors of hemorrhage-free survival (HFS) (n = 356) and progression-free survival (PFS) (n = 334).

Results: Of the 356 BAVM patients, 233 were male and 123 were female (male-to-female ratio of 1.89:1). Rehemorrhage was observed in 22 (6.2%) patients. The overall HFS rates at 5, 10, and 15 years in the entire cohort were 96.0%, 92.4%, and 91.1%, respectively. A 1 cm³ increase in lesion volume (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.049, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.013-1.085; P = 0.007) was a significant adverse factor for HFS. The probabilities of PFS at 5, 10, and 15 years were 94.9%, 90.6%, and 85.5%, respectively. With respect to clinical predictors of PFS, only male sex (HR = 3.146, 95% CI = 1.088-9.098; P = 0.034) was a significant predictor of PFS after surgical treatment in the univariate analysis.

Conclusions: For the majority of patients, surgery remains the first-line treatment for BAVMs. Our study included a significant subset of patients who were successfully managed by surgery alone.