Congestive heart failure in neonates due to intracranial arteriovenous malformation: endovascular treatment.

Newborns with intracranial arteriovenous malformations and congestive heart failure have an extremely poor prognosis. This report describes two infants with intracranial arteriovenous malformations and severe congestive heart failure successfully treated in the newborn period with endovascular embolization. Both infants had immediate improvement in symptoms and both had second embolization procedures performed. Ventriculoperitoneal shunting was necessary in both children because of progressive hydrocephalus. At follow-up of more than 4 years, neither patient has any sign of congestive heart failure, and one is developmentally normal.