The treatment of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) has evolved over the last 40 years. These complex vascular lesions remain among the most difficult lesions to treat. Successful treatment of AVMs of the brain includes extensive preoperative planning, multimodality treatment options, and modern postoperative surgical care. The advent of new technologies, including interventional neuroradiology and radiosurgery, has expanded the range of malformations that can be treated effectively and has had a significant impact on those individuals who manifest this disease process. The purpose of this paper is to describe the current grading technique used by the authors and to explore the preoperative treatment and planning that leads to successful surgical obliteration of these lesions. Some description of preoperative interventions, including radiosurgery and interventional procedures will be mentioned; however, only in the context of how they impact on the surgical treatment of these lesions. In other articles in this edition of Neurosurgical Focus interventional procedures and radiosurgery as treatment adjuncts and as primary therapies will be discussed in greater detail.