title: The effect of age on arteriovenous malformations in children and young adults undergoing magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are the most frequently encountered structural cause of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage in childhood, excluding hemorrhages of prematurity. The goal of our study was to examine the relationship between age and AVM prevalence on imaging in children, which to date has not been well described.
  
  
  METHODS
  We queried the electronic and radiographic records of 14,936 consecutive patients aged 25 years or less who had undergone brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at a single institution over an 11-year period to identify those with a cerebral AVM. We collected age, gender, and other demographic characteristics for all patients. For all patients with a cerebral AVM, we recorded the location, size, drainage pattern, Spetzler-Martin grade, medical history, and presence of neurological symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cerebral AVMs were identified in 55 patients (0.37%). The prevalence of AVMs detected on MRI significantly increased with age (p = 0.001). AVMs were found in 0.34% of boys (25 of 7,447) and 0.40% of girls (30 of 7,489). AVMs were most commonly identified in the frontal lobes (36%), followed by parietal (20%) and temporal lobes (13%). Sixty percent (n = 33) of AVMs were less than 3 cm in size, 35% (n = 19) were 3-6 cm in size, and 5.5% (n = 3) were greater than 6 cm in size. As for Spetzler-Martin grade of the AVMs, 25.5% were grade I, 18.2% were grade II, 36.4% were grade III, 16.4% were grade IV, and 3.6% were grade V.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AVMs are seen more frequently on MRI with advancing age in children and young adults.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5338, USA.
authors: Thomas M
authors: TM
authors: O'Lynnger
authors: Wajd N
authors: WN
authors: Al-Holou
authors: Joseph J
authors: JJ
authors: Gemmete
authors: Aditya S
authors: AS
authors: Pandey
authors: B Gregory
authors: BG
authors: Thompson
authors: Hugh J L
authors: HJ
authors: Garton
authors: Cormac O
authors: CO
authors: Maher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult