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Neurology (Expert Forum)
AVM
Answered by
Cleveland - OH
This forum is for questions and support regarding neurology issues such as: Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, Autism, Brain Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, MS, Neuralgia, Neuropathy, Parkinson's Disease, RSD, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury
AVM
by LinCod, Aug 17, 2007 12:00AM
In Nov 2006 my husband had 250 pds of cast iron pipe fall on his head and continued from there on in to have headaches and memory loss that they thought was going on too long for a post concussion so he had an mri. Mri revealed an abnormal vascular structure in the rt posterior parietal lobe, suspcious of a dural av fistula. He went on to have an angiogram which showed an avm in the rt parietal lobe, fed by an enlarged rt parietal artery from the middle cerebral artery & a mildly enlarged angular artery contributing to an approx, 1 cm nidus.
1st question:..they say there is a possibilty he was born with this? I have found that this can also be cause by a trauma to the head, thus damaging the nervous system? And it ia awfully small to have been born with it, as from what I read, it grows with age? How can they state with certainty he was born with this and it was not a result of the accident? He was a normal 55 yro prior to this...never a headache, etc.
Secondly, they want to do embolization since it is so small. Is this a good choice? They feel they can completely eradicate it in one 'shot' of the glue.
Doctor's Answer
by Cleveland Clinic, Aug 31, 2007 02:50PM
, Aug 31, 2007 02:50PM
To: linCod
Thanks for the note. We don't know what causes most AVMs. Most likely this is congenital in nature (born with it). AVMs do not appear to be hereditary. AVMs occur about equally in both sexes and in different races. An estimation of 3 million people in the United States are born with vascular malformation, 10% of which are AVMs. AVMs may be caused by a rupture or clotting of a blood vessel during fetal development. Treatment options include surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery or interventions such as embolization/glue or coiling. The vascular surgeons tell you that you can never be sure that you can cure an avm with embolization but it is possible. The risk is very dependent on the user. Since the lesion is small, radiosurgery with a Gamma Knife would also be an option with less up front risk then embolization. It is hard to know which options is best without seeing the patient. Since the lesion was probably found incidentally, Gamma Knife may be a better upfront treatment based on risk. We wish you the best of luck and would be available for a second opinion if he would like to be seen at CCF.
My sister had the AVM surgery and she is ok now. But it was hard on her for about a year. She had a stroke during the surgery, she did get better.
She had hers at Duke University.
It has been about 8 years ago. She is 47 now.
I hope he does well, I will remember you both in my prayers.
Kaye
I know there is a lot of support groups for people who have aready had some type of brain injury.
You're right in the fact that someone like your daughter who has a condition but no injury really could use some support also. I would think there has to be something out there available.
The school social worker may also be able to help you out. Just a thought
Marla13