title: Surgical indications for arteriovenous malformations in patients over the age of 60 years: retrospective analysis of 33 patients.
abstract: This retrospective study investigated the surgical indications in 33 patients aged > 60 years with brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) taken from a group of 294 cases between 1981 and 2004. These 33 patients were further classified to two age groups: 60 - 64 years (A group) and > or = 65 years (B group). The overall haemorrhagic rate at initial presentation was 46.6% in the 294 patients. The rate was 48.5% in patients aged > 60 years, and 72.2 and 20% in the A and B groups, respectively. In three of four cases with extremely poor outcome with modified Rankin Scale 5 and 6, the cause of poor outcome was haemorrhage in those aged > 65 years. Because of the high haemorrhagic rate and poor outcome after haemorrhage, surgical treatment is indicated for patients aged > 60 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka, Japan. snagata@ns.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsukado
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Natori
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukui
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome