Location of intracranial aneurysms associated with cerebral arteriovenous malformation: statistical analysis.

Distributions of cerebral aneurysms by site were compared statistically in 78 reported cases associated with arteriovenous malformation, including our five cases, and cases with solitary intracranial aneurysms without arteriovenous malformation. When the feeder of an arteriovenous malformation was one of the branches of anterior, middle, or posterior cerebral arteries, the aneurysms were located on these respective arteries much more frequently than expected in the general aneurysmal population. This was statistically significant. Our results strongly suggest that abnormal hemodynamic stresses on the arteries from which the feeders branch out to arteriovenous malformations play a significant role in the development of intracranial aneurysms on these arteries.