Read more about this disease, some with Classification – Types – Signs and symptoms – Genetics – Pathophysiology – Diagnosis – Screening – Prevention – Treatment and management – Cures and much more, some including pictures and video when available.
Arteriovenous malformation or AVM in the majority of cases is a congenital disorder consisting of a connection between veins and arteries, this pathology is universally known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system, but can appear in any location.
The genetic transmission patterns of AVM, if any, are unknown. AVM is not generally thought to be an inherited disorder, unless in the context of a specific hereditary syndrome.
Symptoms of AVM vary according to the location of the malformation. Roughly 88%[citation needed] AVM are asymptomatic; often the malformation is discovered as part of an autopsy or during treatment of an unrelated disorder (called in medicine an incidental finding), rarely its expansion or a micro-bleed from it, could cause epilepsy, deficit or elicit pain.
The most general symptoms include headache and epilepsy, with more specific symptoms occurring that normally depend on the location of the malformation and the individual. Other possible symptoms include:[1]
Arteries and veins are part of the human cardiovascular system. Normally, the arteries in the vascular system carry oxygen-rich blood. Structurally, arteries divide and sub-divide repeatedly, eventually forming a sponge-like capillary bed. Blood moves through the capillaries, giving up oxygen and taking up waste products from the surrounding cells (CO2). Capillaries successively join together, one upon the other, to form veins that carry blood away. The heart acts to pump blood through arteries and uptake the venous blood.
If the capillary bed is thought of as a sponge, then an AVM is the rough equivalent of jamming a tangle of flexible soda straws from artery to vein through that sponge. On arteriogram films AVM formation often resemble a tangle of spaghetti noodles. This tangle of blood vessels forms a relatively direct connection between high pressure arteries and low pressure veins.
The result is a collection of blood vessels with abnormal connections and no capillaries. This collection, often called a nidus, can be extremely fragile and prone to bleeding.
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