Abstract: The aim was to investigate pre-and postoperative change of regional cerebral cortical blood flow in patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Sixty-three adult patients with AVM were entered into this study at Beijing TianTan Hospital from September 2001 to May 2003. One group had 25 patients who had giant cerebral AVM (diameter more than 6 cm) and the other group had 38 patients who had small AVM (diameter less than 6 cm). Pre and post AVM resections Cortical blood flow(CBF) were measured by laser Doppler flowmeter(LDF), Post-operatively, the probe of LDF was implanted adjacent to the area of the AVM for 24 h and the CBF was recorded. The CBF in the giant group increased obviously, and still remained at high level till 24 h after resection. In small AVM group, the CBF had no obvious change. The change of the CBF in giant and small AVM during the operation is different. Monitoring the CBF is helpful to understand preand postoperative change of cerebral cortical blood flow in patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformation.

Key words: intracranial arteriovenous malformation, regional blood flow, intraoperative