April 19, 2019 — Ching-Jen Chen, M.D., of the neurosurgery department at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health System, was the winner of the Cerebrovascular Section Best Clinical Scientific Paper at the 2019 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting, April 13-17 in San Diego. Chen’s research investigated stereotactic radiosurgery for pediatric versus adult brain arteriovenous malformations (AVM). The aim of this international, multicenter, retrospective, matched-cohort study is to directly compare the outcomes after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for brain AVM in pediatric versus adult patients.
Researchers performed a retrospective review of AVM patients who underwent SRS at eight institutions participating in the International Gamma Knife Research Foundation (IGKRF) from 1987-2014. Patients were categorized into pediatric (<18 years old) and adult (≥18 years old) cohorts, and matched in a 1:1 ratio using propensity scores. Favorable outcome was defined as AVM obliteration, no post-SRS hemorrhage and no permanently symptomatic radiation-induced changes (RIC).
The outcomes following SRS for comparable AVMs in pediatric versus adult patients were not found to be appreciably different. SRS remains a reasonable treatment option for appropriately selected pediatric AVM patients who harbor a high cumulative lifetime hemorrhage risk. Age appears to be a poor predictor of AVM outcomes after SRS.
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