New Way to Treat Arteriovenous Malformations

Italian researchers have devised a new way to treat arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) by using a new imaging technology called 3D rotational angiography (3DRA) to acquire data that can then be used to plan radiosurgery treatment.

AVMs involve a tangled web of blood vessels in the brain or spinal cord that can cause seizures, paralysis, and other problems. After injecting patients with a contrast enhancement medium, researchers used 3D rotational angiography to precisely define the region where AVMs reside. This method acquires the entire head volume in only three or four seconds. These 3D pictures than allowed doctors to use radiosurgery to treat the AVMS. In this case, they used the CyberKnife of Accuray (Stanford, CA, USA). The CyberKnife incorporates image-guidance and robotics to noninvasively ablate tissue by delivering multiple beams of high energy x-rays to the target site.

To date, 20 patients with AVMs have been successfully treated in this manner, according to Dr. Paolo Francescon, at San Bortolo Hospital in Vicenza (Italy).





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