A case of occult AVM diagnosed 17 years after subdural hematoma in the neonatal period

There have been few reports on cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of newborns. We present here an interesting case of occult AVM diagnosed 17 years after an episode of acute subdural hematoma in the neonatal period. The cause of subdural hematoma had remained unclear and the patient had suffered from an intractable epilepsy of 17 years duration. Seizures were mainly characterized by drop attacks and included other seizure types such as complex partial seizure and generalized tonic cIonic seizure. The symptoms had gradually become worse and the intervals between the occurrences of symptoms had become shorter. An interictal scalp EEG showed a focal spike in the left temporoparietal lobe. CT and MRI of that region demonstrated a porencephalic cyst which was supposed to have resulted from an old hematoma. There were no vascular abnormalities in angiography. Temporoparietal craniotomy and a corticogram were performed. The cortex with a focus was resected and the disappearance of a focal spike in the corticogram was confirmed during operation. Microscopically the cortex included AVM with gliosis. The initial postoperative course was good and seizures disappeared immediately after the operation. However, the symptoms of drop attacks observed before operation began to occur again 3 months later. The fact of postoperative recurrence suggests that the long history of the patient's seizures originating from AVM may have produced secondary epileptic foci.