title: Excision of high and mid cervical spinal cord arteriovenous malformations by anterior operation.
abstract: Symptomatic cervical spinal arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) located on the anterior aspect of the spinal cord are rare and surgical removal of these AVMs presents considerable challenges and risks. Surgical techniques to date have usually been by posterior approach and lateral dissection around the cord or via midline myelotomy, both approaches involving cord manipulation and retraction and in the latter, dissection through the spinal cord. We present two teenage patients with symptomatic anteriorly placed mid to high cervical spinal AVMs and associated aneurysm in which excision of the AVMs and aneurysm was performed by an anterior approach using vertebrectomy/corpectomy. The first case had a small perimedullary glomus-type AVM with an aneurysm on the anterior aspect of the cord at the C3/4 level; excision was performed using a single level vertebrectomy/corpectomy, the patient remaining neurologically intact. The second case had a medium-sized juvenile AVM with an aneurysm, both perimedullary and intramedullary, centred at the C5/6 level; excision was performed using a two-level vertebrectomy/corpectomy with no deterioration in the marked pre-operative tetraparesis, which at long-term follow up had improved and stabilised. Anterior approaches have been recently described for treatment of anteriorly placed cervical arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) and an intramedullary haemangioblastoma, but not as yet for spinal AVMs. These are the first two reported cases of anteriorly situated cervical AVMs successfully removed surgically by an anterior approach and with good neurological outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand. martin.macfarlane@cdhb.govt.nz
authors.forename: Martin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: MacFarlane
authors.forename: P James
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Burn
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evison
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001164:Arteriovenous Fistula / Q000601:surgery; D001165:Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D020758:Spinal Cord Vascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures