Infratentorial Cerebral Cavernous Malformation May be a Risk Factor for Symptomatic Bleeding and Precocity of Symptoms: A Multicenter, Propensity Score Matched, Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM) is one of the most common types of vascular malformation of the central nervous system. Intracerebral hemorrhage, seizures, and lesional growth are the main clinical manifestations. Natural history studies have tried to identify many risk factors; however, the clinical course remains highly unpredictable. OBJECTIVE: Here, we have analyzed a multicenter CCM cohort looking for the differential clinical data regarding the patients harboring supra and/or infratentorial cavernous malformations in order to better understand risk factors involved in the anatomical location of the unique neurosurgical disease. METHODS: We have presented a multicenter, Propensity Score Matched (PSM), case-control study including 149 consecutive CCM cases clinically evaluated from May 2017 to December 2022 from three different neurosurgical centers. Epidemiological data were defined at each clinical assessment. Logistic regression was used to identify the independent contribution of each possible risk factor to the bleeding risk. To balance baseline covariates between patients with and without symptoms, and specifically between those with and without symptomatic bleeding, we used a PSM strategy. The Kaplan-Meier curve was drawn to evaluate if patients with infratentorial lesions had a greater chance of bleeding earlier in their life. RESULTS: The presence of infratentorial lesions was a risk factor in the multivariate analysis comparing the bleeding risk with pure asymptomatic individuals (OR: 3.23, 95% CI 1.43 - 7.26, P = 0.005). Also, having an infratentorial CCM was a risk factor after PSM (OR: 4.56, 95% CI 1.47 - 14.10, P = 0.008). The presence of an infratentorial lesion was related to precocity of symptoms when the time to first bleed was compared to all other clinical presentations in the overall cohort (P = 0.0328) and in the PSM group (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Here, we have provided some evidence that infratentorial cerebral cavernous malformation may have a more aggressive clinical course, being a risk factor for symptomatic haemorrhage and precocity of bleeding.