Pollock-Flickinger Score (AVM Radiosurgery Outcome)
The POLLOCK-FLICKINGER RADIOSURGERY-BASED AVM SCORE (2002, modified 2008) predicts the outcome of STEREOTACTIC RADIOSURGERY for a brain arteriovenous malformation.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- AVM volume
- 8 cm^3
- Patient age
- 40 years
- Anatomical site
- Basal ganglia
Result: 1.9
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Original tiers
- 0 frontal/temporal; 1 parietal, occipital, intraventricular, corpus callosum, cerebellar; 2 basal ganglia, thalamus, brainstem.
- Modified tiers
- 0 hemispheric, corpus callosum, cerebellar; 1 basal ganglia, thalamus, brainstem. THREE tiers became TWO.
- The shift
- The modified score is EXACTLY 0.3 lower for every site except frontal and temporal - and that can move a patient a whole band.
- Intraventricular
- HAS NO MODIFIED TIER. The source does not list it. modified is null; do not assign one by analogy.
- 1.00 or less
- 89% obliteration without new deficit; 0% decline in modified Rankin scale.
- 1.01 to 1.50
- 70%; 13%.
- 1.51 to 2.00
- 64%; 20%.
- 2.00 or more
- 46%; 36%. The published bands OVERLAP at exactly 2.00; the higher band is applied.
- Continuous
- NO maximum - volume and age are unbounded. Not a grade, unlike spetzler-ponce, which grades MICROSURGICAL risk.
- Scope
- Radiosurgical outcome only. Does not choose the modality; ARUBA found medical management superior for UNRUPTURED AVMs.
What you enter
- AVM volume.
- Patient age.
- Anatomical site.
Full field descriptions
- AVM volume. Multiplied by 0.1 in both versions.
- Patient age. Multiplied by 0.02 in both versions.
- Anatomical site. Chosen ONCE; each version's tier is derived, because the two published ladders classify the same site differently [frontal = original tier 0, modified tier 0; temporal = original tier 0, modified tier 0; parietal = original tier 1, modified tier 0; occipital = original tier 1, modified tier 0; corpus-callosum = original tier 1, modified tier 0; cerebellar = original tier 1, modified tier 0; intraventricular = original tier 1, modified tier NOT LISTED; basal-ganglia = original tier 2, modified tier 1; thalamus = original tier 2, modified tier 1; brainstem = original tier 2, modified tier 1]
How this is calculated
- Formula
- 0.1 x volume (cm^3) + 0.02 x age (years) + 0.3 x location tier. The SAME coefficients in both versions.
Pollock BE, Flickinger JC. A proposed radiosurgery-based grading system for arteriovenous malformations. J Neurosurg. 2002;96(1):79-85. Modified in Neurosurgery. 2008;63(2):239-243. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.