Efficacy and Tolerance of Sirolimus (Rapamycin) for Extracranial Arteriovenous Malformations in Children and Adults

Abstract

Managing extracranial arteriovenous malformations is challenging. Sirolimus (rapamycin) is increasingly being used when surgery and embolization are not advised. Because of its anti-angiogenic properties here we report all extracranial arteriovenous malformation cases treated with sirolimus in 2 French tertiary centers for vascular anomalies. The outcomes were efficacy (complete, partial, no response) based on arteriovenous malformation volume and necrosis/hemorrhage and side effects. We retrospectively included 10 patients (7 children). The sirolimus dose ranged from 0.6 to 3.5 mg/m2. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) treatment time was 24.5 (4.5; 35) months. Five patients showed no response and 5 showed partial response at a median (IQR) of 3 (1; 5) months followed in 2 cases by therapeutic resistance (i.e., progressive disease after 9 and 24 months of treatment). The most frequent side effect was mouth ulcers. This study shows poor efficacy of sirolimus for treating extracranial arteriovenous malformations.