Sunday, 14 June 2015

What is an AVM?

AVM stands for Arteriovenous Malformation

What Is an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)?

Normally, arteries carry blood containing oxygen from the heart to the brain, and veins carry blood with less oxygen away from the brain and back to the heart. When an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) occurs, a tangle of blood vessels in the brain or on its surface bypasses normal brain tissue and directly diverts blood from the arteries to the veins.

How common are brain AVMs?
Brain AVMs occur in less than 1 percent of the general population. It’s estimated that about one in 200–500 people may have an AVM. AVMs are more common in males than in females.

Why do brain AVMs occur?
We don't know why AVMs occur. Brain AVMs are usually congenital, meaning someone is born with one. But they're usually not hereditary. People probably don't inherit an AVM from their parents, and they probably won’t pass one on to their children.

Where do brain AVMs occur?

Brain AVMs can occur anywhere within the brain or on its covering. This includes the four major lobes of the front part of the brain (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital), the back part of the brain (cerebellum), the brainstem, or the ventricles (deep spaces within the brain that produce and circulate the cerebrospinal fluid).

If you would like to learn more about AVM's follow the link below


My AVM from MRI scan May 2015



Please excuse the funky eye balls they do look like something out of Mars attacks lol but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see that that aint right! Spaghetti Brain indeed.

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