Stagnant venous outflow in ruptured arteriovenous malformations revealed by delayed quantitative digital subtraction angiography

Purpose: To investigate the reproducibility of quantitative digital subtraction angiography (QDSA) measurements and their associations with brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) hemorrhage. Methods: From 2011–2019, 37 patients with BAVMs who had undergone both diagnostic and stereotactic DSA were divided into hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic groups. QDSA analysis was performed on the 2 DSA exams. The inter-exam reliabilities of QDSA measurements across the diagnostic and stereotactic DSA were tested using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Demographics, BAVM characteristics, and QDSA results for the hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic groups were compared. Results: Fifteen of 37 (40.5 %) patients presented with hemorrhage were associated with smaller BAVM volume and the presence of intranidal aneurysm and exclusive deep venous drainage. The median interval between the diagnostic and stereotactic DSA was 49 days and did not differ between the groups. In both groups, the inter-exam QDSA measurements were more reliable for drainage veins and transnidal time (ICCs ranged from 0.38–0.93) than for feeding arteries (ICCs ranged from 0.01–0.74). Among the venous parameters, the hemorrhagic group had lower peak density, area under the curve, inflow gradient, and outflow gradient on both DSA exams and larger full width at half maximum and stasis index on the stereotactic DSA exam than the nonhemorrhagic group. Conclusions: In BAVMs, the QDSA measurements for veins are more reliable than those for arteries. QDSA analysis reflecting stagnant venous drainage is associated with BAVM hemorrhage, but may be confounded by the acute hemodynamic change after hemorrhage.