Brain AVM Diagnosis? Here's What it Means & What Comes Next

Being told you have a brain AVM can feel overwhelming, but knowledge is your most powerful tool. A brain arteriovenous malformation is a tangle of abnormal blood vessels that bypasses the normal capillary system, creating a direct and high-pressure connection between arteries and veins. While that sounds alarming, today's treatments are more precise, effective, and minimally invasive than ever. 

Brain AVMs are rare, affecting approximately 10 to 18 per 100,000 adults, but despite their rarity, brain AVMs are well-studied and have effective treatment. Read on to learn more about modern brain AVM treatments and where to find the best endovascular specialists in West Hills to guide your treatment.

Understanding Brain AVMs: Causes and Risk Factors

Most people never hear about brain arteriovenous malformations until the diagnosis comes out of nowhere. A brain AVM is essentially a plumbing problem. Normally, blood travels from your heart through arteries, slows down through tiny vessels called capillaries, and then drains into veins. That capillary step controls pressure and delivers oxygen to the surrounding brain tissue. With an AVM, those capillaries are missing. So instead, arteries connect directly to veins, creating a high-pressure tangle of abnormal vessels that the brain was never designed to handle. 

AVMs typically form before birth or shortly after, and many people live for years, even decades, without knowing one is there, because they often cause no symptoms at all. As for why they form, no one knows for certain, though some experts believe genetics may play a role. 

Common Symptoms of a Brain AVM

Many brain AVMs don't cause any symptoms and are found by coincidence during a scan for an unrelated reason. Others notice symptoms that are easy to dismiss, like headaches. 

Common symptoms of brain AVMs include:  

• Persistent headaches
• Vision problems
• Seizures without any other explanation 
• Stroke-like weakness

For about one in four symptomatic patients, a seizure is the first warning sign, while headaches affect between 5% and 15% of patients before the AVM is ever detected. In roughly half of all cases, the first symptoms are those of a stroke, like a sudden, thunderclap headache, confusion, or weakness on one side of the body. 

How is a Brain AVM Diagnosed?

Doctors use several imaging tools to find and map an AVM, and which one comes first usually depends on how the AVM was discovered: 

• When bleeding is suspected, a CT scan is typically the first test used because it quickly shows whether there is blood in the brain. From there, an MRI gives a more detailed picture of the AVM's exact size and location within the brain tissue. 
• An ultrasound is sometimes used as an early screening tool, especially in younger patients, because it requires no anesthesia and is completely painless. This approach can even detect the abnormally fast speed of blood moving through the AVM. 
• The most precise test is a cerebral angiogram, which uses a small catheter and contrast dye to create a real-time map of the blood vessels involved. This is the test neurosurgeons rely on most when planning treatment, because it shows exactly how blood is flowing through the abnormal vessels. 

Brain AVM Treatment Options

One of the first questions people ask is, “Will I need surgery for my brain AVM?” The honest answer is: it depends. Treatment is not one-size-fits-all, and the right approach is shaped by: 

• The AVM's size
• The AVM’s location in the brain
• Whether the AVM has bled
• Your overall health

AVM treatment options range from: 

• Watchful waiting with medication to manage symptoms
• Open surgery to remove the AVM entirely
• Minimally invasive procedure called an AVM embolization, where a catheter is guided through an artery in the leg up to the brain, and a glue-like substance is used to seal off the abnormal blood vessels

For many patients, a non-invasive approach called Gamma Knife radiosurgery is another strong treatment option. Despite the name, there are no knives involved. It uses focused beams of radiation aimed precisely at the AVM. In some cases, doctors combine methods. For example, using embolization to reduce blood flow first, then following up with radiosurgery. 

Treatment requires a team that includes endovascular neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, and radiation specialists working together to find the approach that makes the most sense for your specific situation. 

Risks of Untreated Brain AVMs

For some patients, especially those with small, unruptured AVMs in hard-to-reach areas, careful monitoring may be part of the plan. But understanding the risk of leaving an AVM untreated can help you and your doctor make an informed decision together. 

• A brain AVM carries a 1% to 3% annual risk of bleeding
• An AVM rupture is associated with a 10% to 20% chance of death and a similar chance of permanent disability
• Aneurysms, balloon-like bulges in weakened vessel walls, develop in approximately 50% of brain AVMs

If an AVM has already bled once, the risk of bleeding again is significantly elevated in the first year following a hemorrhage, making close follow-up care especially critical during that window. 

None of this is meant to frighten you. It is meant to give you the information you deserve so you can have a direct, honest conversation with the best endovascular specialists in West Hills about where your AVM falls on the risk spectrum and the best AVM treatments are. 

Finding the Best Brain AVM Treatment in West Hills 

At the Vascular and Neuroscience Institute, we bring together expert endovascular surgeons and neurosurgeons under one roof, which means your care is never fragmented, passed from one office to another, or lost in translation between specialists. 

Our team offers patients the most advanced tools and techniques available today, including minimally invasive approaches that are designed to treat your AVM with precision while protecting the healthy brain tissue around it. 

Ready to get accurate answers and personalized treatment plans from the best endovascular specialists in West Hills for AVMs?