arterioveneal angiomas

[Pegy-Weiman]

  I was diagnosed with a left temporal lobe angioma nine months ago which, unfortunately, had a little bleed sometime in the distant past. No options have been discussed other than watch it. Add to this, something called 'white matter disease', possible leuke/nhl (watch and wait). My platelets are consistantly 120 now and the possibility that I might have a future bleed very scary. What might other 'options' be rather than watch and wait.
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Dear Peggy,
There are two types of angiomas that you may have, one is a venous angioma,
and the other a cavernous angioma.  You probably have a cavernous angioma
if the doctors saw evidence of bleeding in the past.  
A cavernous angioma is a benign tangle of blood vessels that do not actively
carry blood.  They can, however, bleed and cause seizures and neurological
deficits.  The bleeds from cavernous angiomas tend to be smaller and not life
threatening.  Surgery is the definitive therapy for these lesions, but there
are risks to surgery that must be weighed against the typically benign nature
of cavernous angiomas.
You should speak to your surgeon about the risks and benefits to surgery in
your particular instance with regard to the location of your angioma.
Good luck.