الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Cerebral arteriovenous malformations are the most frequent vascular malformations of the brain, and the most significant because of the concomitant risk of bleeding (Fleetwood et al., 2002). Cerebral arteriovenous malformations are lesions in which a nest of vessels creates pathological communications between arteries and veins, without an intervening capillary bed. They are probably the result of a congenital abnormality of blood vessels emerging in fetal life (Smith et al., 2002). Cerebral arteriovenous malformations are not fit to withstand normal blood pressures, with rupture and hemorrhage being a dreaded complication. The most common presentation is hemorrhage, followed by seizures, headaches and neurological deficits. They are more frequent among young adults between the third and fourth decades of life. Intra-parenchymal hemorrhage is the most common ; however they can also produce subarachnoid or intra-ventricular bleeding (Strozyk et al., 2009) Available studies on the natural history of arteriovenous malformations suggest that the annual risk of bleeding is 2-3%, while the risk of rebleeding during the first year after the first bleeding episode ranges between 6% and 18% (Pierot et al., 2009). |