|
A 35-year old woman presented with focal seizures affecting the
left side of her body. |
| Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM):
Cerebral Angiogram: Right internal carotid artery injection. (Left) lateral view; (Right) AP view. Note the abnormal
collection of blood vessels and large draining veins in the right frontal lobe. All
of the large draining veins empty into the superior sagittal sinus. This
large tangle of blood vessels that arise from large arterial feeders, with
prominent draining veins, represent a classic angiographic picture of an AVM. Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are a congenital abnormality of blood vessels. They consist of a tangle of abnormal vessels supplied by arterial feeders and often drained by large dilated veins. AVMs most often occur in isolation. Rarely, they are associated with genetic disorders, among them: Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome (hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia), Sturge-Weber disease, and von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. AVMs are often asymptomatic. Symptoms, when present, may include: • headaches (in some cases a unilateral throbbing headache, mimicking a migraine headache) • seizures (focal, or focal to generalized) • focal neurological deficits • bleeding (may mimic subarachnoid hemorrhage from an aneurysm; bleeding from AVMs account for 2% of all strokes) Larger AVMs are often seen on CT or MRI. Angiography is required to define the vascular anatomy and plan appropriate treatment. Treatment may involve surgical resection, embolization or radiotherapy. |
Revised
11/29/06
Copyrighted 2006. David C Preston