Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation in a Pediatric Patient with Severe Systemic Hypertension

Abstract

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are a tangle of blood vessels that connects arteries and veins in which the feeding arteries are directly connected to the venous channels. Cerebral AVM needs special consideration due to high risk of bleeding and neurological deficit associated with morbidity and mortality. In pediatric population, prevalence rate of cerebral AVM is 0.02%. The systemic hemodynamic changes are seen more frequently with peripheral AVM, whereas its association with cerebral AVM is rare. We report a rare case of cerebral AVM in a 12-year-old child with severe systemic hypertension and electrocardiogram changes of biventricular hypertrophy planned for surgical resection of AVM in view of intracerebral bleed. This case illustrates the importance of detailed cardiac, renal, and endocrine evaluation in children with cerebral AVM with systemic hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy to rule out other causes of systemic hypertension prior to surgery.