Incidence and Management of Late Adverse Radiation Effects After Arteriovenous Malformation Radiosurgery.
BACKGROUND
Late adverse radiation effects (ARE) typically occur many years after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) of intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVM). They are characterized by perilesional edema or cyst formation and are distinct from radiation-induced changes (RIC) noted in the first 1 to 2 years after AVM SRS and radiation necrosis.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the incidence of late ARE after AVM SRS.


METHODS
Retrospective review of 233 AVM patients having SRS from 1990 to 2009. Patients had sporadic AVM, no prior radiation, and a minimum of 5 years of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-up. The median MRI follow-up after SRS was 9.8 years (range, 5-24.2).


RESULTS
Late ARE were observed in 16 patients (6.9%) at a median of 8.7 years after SRS (range, 2.0-16.1). The 5-, 10-, and 15-year incidence of late ARE was 0.4%, 7.7%, and 12.5%, respectively. Eight patients (3.4%) were symptomatic at the time of ARE detection. Three of 8 patients who were initially asymptomatic had documented cyst progression (at 11, 40, and 42 months), for an overall symptomatic rate of 4.7%. Five patients with asymptomatic ARE have been observed for a median of 9.3 years (range, 2.0-14.1) without progression. Patients having early RIC (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.11, P < .001), patients having obliteration (HR = 1.24, P = .02), and patients having SRS before April 1997 (HR = 1.12, P = .02) were more likely to develop late ARE.


CONCLUSIONS
Late ARE are common in AVM patients who develop early RIC after SRS. Resection of the thrombosed AVM and the adjacent damaged tissue is effective at eliminating the mass effect and improving patients' neurological condition.
Department of Neurological Surgery.|Department of Radiation Oncology.
Bruce E
BE
Pollock
Department of Neurological Surgery.|Department of Otorhinolaryngology.
Michael J
MJ
Link
Department of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.
Megan E
ME
Branda
Department of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.
Curtis B
CB
Storlie
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001164:Arteriovenous Fistula / Q000601:surgery*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
Arteriovenous malformation; Complication; Cyst; Edema; Radiosurgery