Background and purpose: Reported risks of hemorrhage from intracranial developmental venous anomalies (DVAs) vary, so we investigated this in a systematic review and population-based study.
Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature (Ovid Medline and Embase to November 7, 2007) and selected studies of >or=20 participants with >or=1 DVA(s) that described their clinical presentation and/or their clinical course over a specified follow-up period. We also identified every adult first diagnosed with a DVA in Scotland from 1999 to 2003 and followed them in a prospective, population-based study.
Results: Of 2068 articles detected by the literature search, 15 met our inclusion criteria and described clinical presentation, 8 of which also described the clinical course of DVAs. In the 15 studies of 714 people first presenting with a DVA, 61% were incidental findings, the mode of presentation was unclear in 23%, 6% presented with nonhemorrhagic focal neurological deficit, 6% had caused symptomatic hemorrhage, 4% were associated with epileptic seizure, and <1% were associated with infarction. In studies of the clinical course of 422 people with a DVA, the hemorrhage rate after first presentation ranged from 0% to 1.28% per year. In the population-based study of 93 adults with DVAs, 98% were incidental, 1% presented with symptomatic hemorrhage, and 1% presented with an infarct, but there were no symptomatic hemorrhages or infarcts in 492 person-years of follow-up (0% per person-year; 95% CI, 0% to 0.7%).
Conclusions: Intracranial DVAs have a benign presentation and clinical course.