Catheter embolization of intracranial arteriovenous malformations as an aid to surgical excision.

Eleven cases of large arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) were treated from February 1974 to March 1975 by embolization via the internal carotid artery with beads, and 8 of them had subsequent surgery. There was one post-operative death. A second embolization was performed in 3 patients with further diminution of vascularity. Embolization improved the perfusion of the adjacent normal brain and was an important preoperative procedure which facilitated the operation and made it surgically feasible to operate on some cases which might otherwise have been considered to be inoperable.