Neuropsychological outcomes of stereotactic radiotherapy for cerebral arteriovenous malformations

Abstract

To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate cognitive outcome in patients with large or surgically inaccessible cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), who were treated with hypo-fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (HSRT). A sample of 10 patients with AVMs was assessed up to 3.5 years post-HSRT. All patients were treated with HSRT to a total dose of 55 Gy in 11 fractions over a treatment period of 2.5 weeks. Neuropsychological assessments were given prior to radiotherapy and then at three time points following radiotherapy: 6 weeks, 6 months and 2.5-3.5 years post-treatment. The cognitive domains of attention, processing speed, learning, memory, semantic processing, nami..