Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
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
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
Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffDiagnosing a brain AVM usually begins with a thorough medical exam by a doctor who specializes in conditions of the brain and nervous system (neurologist). Depending on those results, the doctor may request one or more tests. Imaging tests are usually conducted by radiologists who specialize in imaging the brain and nervous system.
Three main tests are used to diagnose brain AVMs:
- CT scan and CTA. A computerized tomography (CT) scan takes pictures of the brain using X-rays. Sometimes dye is injected through an intravenous tube in a vein so that the arteries feeding the AVM and the veins draining the AVM can be viewed in greater detail. This is called a computerized tomography angiogram (CTA).
- MRI and MRA. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), more sensitive than CT in showing AVM, creates images using a large magnet and radio waves. MRI also provides information about the exact location of the malformation, which is very important for determining treatment options. Dye can also be injected to better see the blood circulation in the brain. This is called a magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA).
- Cerebral arteriography. Cerebral arteriography (also known as cerebral angiography) is the most detailed test and the best way to diagnose an AVM. The test reveals the location and characteristics of the feeding arteries and draining veins. A thin tube is inserted into an artery in the groin. This tube is threaded up toward the brain to the blood vessels. Dye is injected into the blood vessels of the brain and X-rays are taken.
- 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
