Comment

Moderator Comment by dancermom on February 20, 2013 at 9:17pm

sounds fine. they might stabilize your head somehow, so there is no movement.

Comment by carsonokeeffe on February 20, 2013 at 9:08pm

thank you everyone. actually I've been told that they only give anesthetia to people who really want it or those with heart conditions, so I'm going to be given a sedative instead & local anesthetic at the puncture site. does that sound right?

Moderator Comment by dancermom on February 20, 2013 at 8:59pm

To avoid confusion for you, Carson, patients with brain AVMs are generally awake during angiograms; patients with peripheral avms are generally under general anesthesia.

Comment by Ben Mrl on February 20, 2013 at 8:40pm

I've had 4 angios and I never had a problem with them. As a matter of fact - I don't mind them at all. The pictures that they take, are much more clearer and accurate than what MRI's are. CT scans never showed much for me. Many times it didn't even pick up my AVM. Which was 3 1/2 cm then.

For the angio's they give you a local anesthesia.

Ben

Comment by Tim on February 19, 2013 at 2:15pm

I don't know your story or where your avm is but I had one in my right temporal lobe and I had 3 angiograms and the embolized 3 times decreasing the size of my avm and when it was time for my craniotimy there was no hemoraging or bleeding! So I am a big supporter of getting angiorgrams, it's a bery simple procedure and doesn't take long, it isn't fun but it helped a lot

Moderator Comment by dancermom on February 19, 2013 at 12:27pm

The CT from a year ago is useful only for comparison now; new tests will definitely be needed before treatment. You do not need to be fearful of the angiogram; I cannot remember anyone here ever mentioning a problem after angiogram, and most members here have had at least one. I would not recommend pushing for an extra CT, as we need to be careful to limit our exposure to radiation as much as possible. Angiograms are already fairly radiation-intensive.

Here are some folks to contact, so you are not just hearing from Connie and me: Debra, Monica Longood, Keith R, Jaz, Bonnie, and Kim R.