Hi there,
I am very confused and discourage about my situation and I would like to know if someone is/was in a similar situation to mine.
Four months ago I had a seizure and I was immediately diagnosed with a left-sided temporal arteriovenous malformation greater than 3 cm in size in the eloquent cortex with superficial draining veins. The AVM is supplied by the posterior and middle cerebral arteries.
I live in New Zealand and the board at Auckland Hospital decided that, since it didn’t present any sign of hemorrhage and I am a young and healthy 28 years old woman, it is best to not do any treatments because the risk of post-operation deficit is 20% (it means I could lose the vision from my left eye or my speech). My case was presented twice to the board and no one wants to take the responsibility to treat my AVM because they are convinced that something can go wrong.
Since I am originally from Italy, my mother spoke with one of the best neurosurgeon in Europe and after discussing my case with the board over there, they all decided that it si best to treat the AVM as in their opinion, I have a high risk of brain hemorrhage, especially due to my age.
At this stage, I am not sure how to proceed. Why there is such a discrepancy between opinions from two different countries? Shall I leave the AVM untreated as it might never burst according to Auckland neurosurgery or shall I start embolizing it with my 20% risk of losing an eye or speech? What I am also wondering is that if I leave it there and I have a brain hemorrhage, it might be worse than losing an eye or my speech.
I really don’t know what to do.
Thanks for your help
Lara