Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of microvascular plugs for the treatment of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs).
Materials and methods: From July 2014 to March 2017, 22 consecutive patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia underwent treatment of PAVMs using microvascular plugs. The number, location, and type (simple or complex) of PAVM and the diameter of the feeding artery were assessed at angiography. Safety was evaluated by successful detachment and absence of migration of the microvascular plug after deployment. Efficacy was assessed by technical success, defined as immediate stasis in the feeding artery above the microvascular plug at the time of angiography, and by the persistence rate at 1-year follow-up CT.
Results: Thirty-nine PAVMs (36 simple and three complex) were treated with 52 microvascular plugs in 22 consecutive patients. Thirty-three PAVMs were undergoing initial treatment and six were undergoing retreatment after previous embolotherapy. All microvascular plugs were successfully detached. No microvascular plug migration was observed. The mean (± SD) feeding artery diameter was 2.3 ± 0.7 mm. Technical success was achieved for 51 of 52 (98%) microvascular plug deployments. Follow-up CT, which was available for 20 of 22 (91%) patients, with a mean delay of 12.6 ± 3.1 months, showed two persistent PAVMs (persistence rate, 6%), one due to recanalization through the microvascular plug and the other due to reperfusion from an untreated adjacent pulmonary feeding artery.
Conclusion: Microvascular plugs are safe and effective for treatment of PAVMs, with a low persistence rate (6%) 1 year after treatment.
Keywords: embolotherapy microvascular plugs; hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia; pulmonary arteriovenous malformation.