Cerebral cavernoamas: radiological prevalence and clinical features in a 10 year retrospective study in a teaching hospital.

Objectives: Cerebral cavernous angiomas remain one of the most negotiable and controversial topics in neurological and neurosurgical practice. It can present with symptoms or can be found incidentally. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence, clinical presentation, treatment options and outcome of patients with cerebral cavernoma. Materials and Methods: Brain MRI for (14372) patients done in our university teaching hospital during 10 -year period from 2001 to 2011 were reviewed, 33 cases of cerebral cavernoma were found. The medical charts of these patients were reviewed and analyzed for their clinical presentation, treatment options and outcome. Results: We identified 33 cases of cavernoma with a mean age of 33.3±16.8 years. There were18 females and 15 males. Four cases were excluded from analysis (but included in prevalence calculation) due to unavailability of clinical data. In the 29 other cases there were 35 cavernomas. The radiologic prevalence of cavernomas in this population was 0.23%. Most cavernomas were found in the supratentorial regions mostly found in the frontal lobes. The most common presenting symptoms were seizures in males and headache in females. Conclusion: The radiologic prevalence of cerebral cavernomas was less than previous series, while clinical presentation was the same. Performing MRI at higher resolution and field strength with more sensitive sequences may lead to the detection of subtle or small brain abnormalities that would not have been detected previously.