title: Intradural spinal arteriovenous malformation in a 13-month-old female: A case report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Describe the case of a spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM), which represents a rare cause for tetraplegia in the infant population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This patient underwent treatment with surgical clipping of an intradural AVM, intravenous steroids, and inpatient rehabilitation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although AVMs are a congenital vascular malformation, spinal AVMs are extremely rare with only a few case reports published in the pediatric literature. Generally AVMs are diagnosed intracranially which would lead to cerebral infarction; however, in this case, the AVM was in the cervical spinal cord leading to tetraplegia. With medical and rehabilitation interventions, the patient's function improved significantly; however, long-term prognostication remained difficult given the lack of standardized assessments and the inaccuracy of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) examination for this age group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spinal AVMs are extremely rare in the pediatric population; however, with this case the use of surgical intervention helped prevent further loss of neurologic impairment, and inpatient rehabilitation served to increase the patient's function. She continued to participate in outpatient rehabilitation to improve developmental milestones, mobility, posture, positioning, and upper limb function.
authors.affiliation: The Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.affiliation: Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D001165:Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000098:blood supply*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000098:blood supply*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000098:blood supply*
keywords: Spinal cord; arteriovenous malformation; pediatrics; rehabilitation