Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffComplications of a brain AVM include:
- Bleeding in the brain (hemorrhage). Walls of the affected arteries and veins may become thin or weak. An AVM puts extreme pressure on these walls, since no capillaries are available to slow down the blood flow. A hemorrhage may result. A very small (microscopic) hemorrhage causes limited damage to surrounding tissues and is unlikely to produce noticeable symptoms. A larger hemorrhage, however, can cause a hemorrhagic stroke and brain damage.
- Reduced oxygen to brain tissue. With an AVM, blood bypasses the network of capillaries and flows directly from arteries to veins. Blood rushes quickly through the altered path since it isn't slowed down by channels of smaller blood vessels. Surrounding brain tissues can't easily absorb oxygen from the fast-flowing blood. Without enough oxygen, brain tissues weaken or may die off completely. This results in stroke-like symptoms, such as difficulty speaking or severe unsteadiness.
- Thin or weak blood vessels. An AVM puts extreme pressure on the thin and weak walls of the blood vessels. A bulge in a blood vessel wall (aneurysm) may develop and become susceptible to rupture.
- Brain damage. As you grow, more arteries may be "recruited" to supply blood to the fast-flowing AVM. As a result, some AVMs enlarge, which moves or compresses portions of the brain. This may prevent protective fluids from flowing freely around the hemispheres of the brain. If fluid builds up, it can push brain tissue up against the skull — a condition known as hydrocephalus.
References
- Chung CS, et al. Stroke and other neurovascular disorders. In: Goetz CG. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Saunders; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/113422743-8/782331384/1488/384.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3618-0..10045-1--s0670_3824. Accessed Dec. 11, 2008.
- Arteriovenous malformations and other vascular lesions of the central nervous system fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/avms/detail_avms.htm. Accessed Dec. 11, 2008.
- Higashida RT. What is an arteriovenous malformation (AVM)? American Stroke Association. http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/stroke/1095279678689What_Is_an_Arteriovenous_Malformation_Final%20Science%20review%206-03-03%20vF3.pdf. Accessed Dec. 11, 2008.
- Singer RJ, et al. Brain arteriovenous malformations. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 11, 2008.
- Aminoff MJ. Nervous system disorders. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=12814. Accessed Dec. 11, 2008
