3 Interesting Facts of Arteriovenous malformations
- Arteriovenous malformations are abnormal connections between arteries that normally supply the brain tissue and veins that normally drain the brain, resulting in arteriovenous shunting; rupture leads to intracranial hemorrhage
- Similar to moyamoya, patients with arteriovenous malformations present as children or young to middle-aged adults (aged 20-40 years) with an intracerebral hemorrhage, headache, focal neurologic deficits, and/or seizure. A small percentage of arteriovenous malformations are discovered incidentally
- Moyamoya and arteriovenous malformations are differentiated by specific neuroimaging findings
- Arteriovenous malformation appears on CT axial views and on MRI as a nidus embedded within the brain parenchyma
- On magnetic resonance angiography, early venous drainage is identified in arteriovenous malformation
- In contrast to arteriovenous malformations, in moyamoya, there is no true nidus embedded within the brain parenchyma and there are no dilated vessels
