Spontaneous Angiographic Disappearance of a Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation

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Abstract
The present case illustrates a little-appreciated aspect of the developmental history of arteriovenous malformations, namely, their potential for spontaneous complete angiographic disappearance, presumably secondary to thrombosis of the malformation. Report of a Case The patient was in good health until 1965 when at age 40 he suddenly collapsed at work. When he recovered consciousness, he was noted to be aphasic and to have a right hemiparesis. X-ray films of the skull demonstrated a 7-mm shift of the pineal from left to right, and a left carotid angiogram revealed an arteriovenous malformation in the left parietal area with associated downward displacement of the sylvian point and displacement of the anterior cerebral artery from left to right (Fig 1). At operation, the left parietal cortex was stained and swollen, but the malformation was not visible on the surface and appeared to be within and immediately below the sylvian fissure. Five milliliters of