Brain arteriovenous malformations are a tangle of abnormal blood vessels in the brain where arteries connect directly to veins. This creates abnormal shunts where blood does not pass-through smaller vessels called capillaries in order to oxygenate the brain.
Brain AVM’s can present with headaches, rupture (bleed) or cause abnormal brain activity like seizures.
Depending of the type and characteristics of the brain AVM, Dr. Qureshi may treat it using minimal invasive endovascular embolization and / or open surgery.
Select AVM’s may benefit from radiotherapy.
Cavernous malformations or cavernomas are clusters of abnormal thin-walled blood vessels located in the brain or spinal cord or on the coverings of central nervous system. These malformations have a propensity to bleed causing intra-parenchymal hematomas. Depending upon the location select cavernoma’s require surgical resection. Some cavernomas may be associated with a developmental venous anomaly.
A cerebral or intracranial aneurysm is an abnormal focal dilation of an artery within the subarachnoid space of the brain. It results from a weakening of the inner muscular layer of a blood vessel wall. Most aneurysms go unnoticed and do not have any symptoms. Rarely, the aneurysm may rupture causing a bleed called a subarachnoid hemorrhage. This kind of severe hemorrhage can cause severe functional deficits, coma and/or death.
Diagnosis is often made following a CT scan and a CT angiogram showing the vascular tree of the brain. If any doubt exists, a lumbar puncture will be performed to look for red blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which flows around the brain and spinal cord.
Ruptured intracranial aneurysms in stable patients require urgent treatment. This treatment may include endovascular coil embolization, endovascular flow diversion or open surgery with aneurysm clipping.
hemorrhage [bleeding into the brain tissue] is the second most common cause of stroke and unfortunately the deadliest.
Most patients will present with a sudden severe headache and nausea with vomiting. They may have a reduction in the level of their consciousness and may often have weakness or numbness of in the face, leg or arm on one side of the body. some patients may present with seizures.
Treatment focuses on stopping the bleeding, removing the clot and relieving pressure on the brain. If left alone, the brain will eventually re-absorb the clot. The damage done by increased brain pressure over a long period may be irreversible