Michael Morgan, a neurosurgeon from Sydney, Australia and specialist in arteriovenous malformations (AVM) spoke today. He has seen approximately 600 patients with AVMs and operated on 529 of them. In his hands, the risks of a surgical resection of a SM grade 1 AVM is less than the risks of gamma knife. It is also more commonly definitive therapy. It is far less risky than Onyx embolization. However, Dr. Morgan is a unique surgeon and not every surgeon is going to be able to achieve similar results.
Other interesting points from his lecture:
- The risk of hemorrhage from AVMs with no prior history of hemorrhage is approximately 1% per year.
- The risk of hemorrhage from AVMs with a prior history of hemorrhage is approximately 6% per year. Continue reading ‘Michael Morgan, AVMs, and the Spetzler Grading System’