Living with a Brain AVM: A Quality of Life Assessment.

Background and purpose: Brain arteriovenous malformations (AVM) are uncommon vascular lesions with the risk of hemorrhage, epileptic seizures, neurological deficits, and headache. Comparing the risks of the natural history and that of preventive treatment, a recent study has found observation more beneficial than treatment for unruptured AVMs. This study, however, did not consider the long-term impact of carrying a brain AVM on everyday activities. In this study we analyzed the Quality Of Life (QOL) of patients with untreated AVMs, a measure increasingly used in clinical trials to asses this kind of impact.