Endovascular treatment results and risk factors for complications of body and extremity arteriovenous malformations

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the factors associated with the complication rate and treatment outcomes of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) during a 20-year period. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 306 patients (135 men, 171 women; mean age, 30.8 years) with body and extremity AVMs who were treated between 1996 and 2017. A total of 913 sessions of endovascular treatment were performed. Patients were divided into two decades of the study period to compare complications and clinical results. Group 1 comprised 107 patients treated in the first decade of the study period, and group 2 comprised 199 patients treated in the last decade. AVMs were classified according to the angiographic findings. Complication rates, number of treatment sessions, and treatment results were compared between the two groups. Results: Minor complication (group 1, 20.1%; group 2, 18.5%) and major complication (group 1, 3.1%; group 2, 4.1%) rates were similar between groups (P =.79). The mean number of treatment sessions in group 1 and group 2 was 4.2 and 2.3, respectively, indicating a 45% reduction in treatment sessions (P <.0001). The treatment failure rate decreased from 9.3% in group 1 to 1.5% in group 2 (P =.04). The clinical success rate was 54.2% in group 1 and 64.3% in group 2 (P =.10). Conclusions: With an accumulation of AVM treatment experience, the number of treatment sessions and the rate of treatment failures were significantly reduced.