I am so happy to find this site but i am so confused about an AVM is it the same thing as a venous malformation or is a venous malformation a type of AVM or are they two different things?? If anyone could help it would be awesome. It seems like the treatments are the same for both of these but I was told I had a Venous Malformation and it was rare so please help me!!!
Hi Britney,
Welcome to the site, and I’ll take a shot at an answer.
AVM = ArterioVenous Malformation. A simple definition is where arteries connect directly to veins, without going through capillaries. What happens then is high pressure blood from the arteries pumps directly into the return side (veins). AVM’s shunt the blood away from other areas. AVMs also can have poorly formed vessel walls; think of a car tire. It has many plies that run in different directions to give the vessel strength. If some of those vessels are poorly formed or missing layers, the blood vessel is weaker, can stretch and cause pressure on the brain which might lead to seizures. Or they can rupture, which is bad.
I’m not sure of a good definition of Venous Malformations, unless it is used as a short version of saying AVM. I’m sure others smarter’n me will jump in to add to this. I suppose if you had poorly formed veins apart from the arteries, it might be called a VM???
Don’t know. Hope this helps a little.
Ron, KS
AVMs are a type of Vascular Malformation. Venous Angiomas and Cavernous Malformations are also Vascular Malformations.
From what I understand venous malformation is another term for a venous angioma, which basically means the veins are abnormally large. Venous angiomas aren’t normally treated. My son has a venous angioma and our neurosurgeon opted not to treat it.