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This group of authors came up with a scoring system to predict seizures in patients with brain AVMs. They retrospectively reviewed imaging studies of 1299 patients and found 33 with unruptured AVMs and seizures and 45 with unruptured lesions without seizures. Features that predicted seizures included: arterial dilation, pial recruitment, fistula, intranidal aneurysm, pial long draining vein, pseudophlebitic pattern, venous outflow obstruction, and venous ectasia. Because seizures are associated with significant morbidity, AVMs with these features may be targeted for treatment with surgery and/or embolization.

These authors explored the diagnostic yield of DSA in patients with SAH and previously negative CTA or MRA. A total of 55 patients who presented with diffuse SAH, perimesencephalic SAH, or sulcal SAH received CTA (n= 47) or MRA (n= 8). Despite normal findings on CTA or MRA, DSA showed vascular lesions in 11% of patients with diffuse SAH and in 1 patient with sulcal SAH. The investigators concluded that DSA is a valuable tool in patients with diffuse or sulcal SAH in whom previous noninvasive examinations are negative.