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Brain Education: Arteriorvenous Malformation

Arteriorvenous Malformation

• Definition, Causes, and
  Frequency
• Symptoms
• Methods of Diagnosis
• Treatment and Prognosis

What is Arteriovenous Malformation?

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are defects of the circulatory system that are generally believed to arise during embryonic or fetal development or soon after birth. They are comprised of snarled tangles of arteries and veins. Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the body’s cells; veins return oxygen-depleted blood to the lungs and heart. The absence of capillaries—small blood vessels that connect arteries to veins—creates a short-cut for blood to pass directly from arteries to veins. The presence of an AVM disrupts this vital cyclical process.

Arteriovenous malformations vary in size and location. Those located in the brain or spinal cord can have especially widespread effects on the body.

Causes

The cause of cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is unknown.

Frequency

Cerebral arteriovenous malformations occur in less than 1% of people. Although the condition is present at birth, symptoms may occur at any age. Hemorrhages occur most often in people ages 15–20, but can also occur later in life. Some patients with an AVM also have cerebral aneurysms. They occur in males and females of all racial or ethnic backgrounds at roughly equal rates.

Most people with neurological AVMs experience few, if any, significant symptoms. The malformations tend to be discovered only incidentally, usually either at autopsy or during treatment for an unrelated disorder. AVMs of the brain or spinal cord (neurological AVMs) are believed to affect approximately 300,000 Americans. But for about 12% of the affected population, these abnormalities cause symptoms that vary greatly in severity. For a small fraction of the individuals within this group, such symptoms are severe enough to become debilitating or even life-threatening. Each year about 1% of those with AVMs will die as a direct result of the AVM.

Symptoms »