Language Function Reorganization in Patients With Arteriovenous Malformations

Study on the Language Function Reorganization in Right CerebralHemisphere of Patients With Brain Arteriovenous Malformations Using Multimodal MRI

Brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is generally considered as a congenital lesion. Its unique clinical manifestation is that when the unruptured AVM involves and destroys the language function area of the left hemisphere, the patient has almost no language disorder. This phenomenon is distinct from those of acquired diseases such as cerebral infarction and gliomas. There is a hypothesis that it might be associated with that the occurrence of AVM is earlier than period of language learning. Therefore, patients with AVMs involving language areas can be regarded as population whose language areas are congenital "knocked out" but the language functions remain normal, which provide a special model and new insights for language reorganization research. Previous studies have found that the right hemisphere plays an important role in the remodeling of language function in patients with AVMs, but the specific mechanism remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to further elaborate the role of the right cerebral hemisphere in the reorganized language network and the interhemispheric interaction mechanisms in patients with AVMs involving the language areas, using multimodal magnetic resonanceimaging and from multiple dimensions such as functional remodeling, white matter pathway remodeling, structural remodeling, etc., so as to further understand the remodeling mechanism of the Chinese language network after damage of language areas, and also to provide a theoretical basis for the protection of language function in brain network surgery.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Brain Arteriovenous Malformations
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: MRI

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 120

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Xiaofeng Deng, MD; Phone Number: +8613426341444; Email: windmessenger@126.com
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Zekun Han, MM; Phone Number: +8613523485634; Email: ZKHan0810@163.com

Study Locations

• China
  • Beijing, China
    • No. 119 South 4th Ring West Road, Fengtai District, Beijing 100070, China
    • Contact: Xiaofeng Deng, MD; Phone Number: +8613426341444; Email: windmessenger@126.com
    • Contact: Zekun Han, MM; Phone Number: +8613523485634; Email: ZKHan0810@163.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy Control and AVM patients

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• AVM located within left-hemisphere language regions
• right-handedness
• native Mandarin Chinese speakers
• age 18-60 years
• high school education or above

Exclusion Criteria:

• comorbid neurological or psychiatric disorders
• AVM-related intracranial hemorrhage within the past month
• prior AVM treatment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Healthy Control	Other: MRI; All participants underwent MRI scans
AVM patients	Other: MRI; All participants underwent MRI scans

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Structural MRI (sMRI) Primary Metric	Cortical thickness of bilateral language-related brain regions (measured via FreeSurfer); intergroup differences between AVM patients and healthy controls	baseline and three months after surgery
Functional MRI Secondary Metrics	Resting-state regional brain activity: Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation (ALFF) and Regional Homogeneity (ReHo) Dynamic effective connectivity (DCM): Excitatory/inhibitory effective connectivity between lesioned left hemisphere and remodeled right hemisphere regions	baseline and three months after surgery
Diffusion MRI (dMRI) Primary Metrics	White matter microstructural integrity: Fractional Anisotropy (FA, DTI) and Neurite Density Index (NDI, NODDI) of language-related white matter tracts Corpus callosum diffusion metrics (FA, NDI) reflecting interhemispheric communication	baseline and three months after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Multimodal Combined & Exploratory Metrics	Function-structure coupling: Correlation analysis between fMRI LI, cortical thickness, and white matter FA/NDI Track-weighted dynamic functional connectivity (TW-dFC): White matter tract-mediated dynamic functional interactions Graph theory brain network analysis: Global efficiency, local efficiency, nodal degree, and modularity of the language network Subgroup comparative metrics: Neuroimaging differences between right-hemisphere remodelers and non-remodelers Correlation between imaging metrics and basic demographic/clinical variables (age, lesion location)	baseline and three months after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Beijing Tiantan Hospital
• Investigators: Study Chair: Xiaofeng Deng, Brijing Tiantan Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 20, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 10, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 16, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): April 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 17, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 16, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: functional magnetic resonance imaging; language; arteriovenous malformations; reorganization; right cerebral hemisphere
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Congenital Abnormalities; Cardiovascular Abnormalities; Vascular Malformations; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities; Behavior; Communication; Arteriovenous Malformations; Language
• Other Study ID Numbers: KY2025-104-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No