Background: Cerebral arteriovenous malformations are usually treated by excision or selective embolization. Some untreatable malformations may be presently cured by radiosurgery.
Case report: A 10-year-old girl without previous illness suffered from a sudden quadriventricular hemorrhage due to arteriovenous malformation. Initially the child recovered with symptomatic treatment. Neurosurgery and arterial embolization being impossible, Gamma-Unit treatment was performed. Treatment was first well tolerated but 8 months later, left hemiparesis and language disorders occurred, due to radionecrosis. These complications were dramatically improved by corticosteroids.
Conclusion: Gamma-Unit treatment can be successfully proposed for treating those malformations that are inaccessible to surgery or embolization.