To diagnose a brain AVM, your neurologist will review your symptoms and conduct a physical examination.
Your doctor may order one or more tests to diagnose your condition. Radiologists trained in brain and nervous system imaging (neuroradiologists) usually conduct imaging tests.
Tests used to diagnose brain AVMs include:
Mar. 21, 2014
Cerebral arteriography. Cerebral arteriography, also known as cerebral angiography, is the most detailed test to diagnose an AVM. The test reveals the location and characteristics of the feeding arteries and draining veins.
In this test, your doctor inserts a long, thin tube (catheter) into an artery in the groin and threads it to your brain using X-ray imaging. Your doctor injects dye into the blood vessels of your brain to make them visible under X-ray imaging.
Computerized tomography (CT) scan. A CT scan uses a series of X-rays to create a detailed image of your brain.
Sometimes a doctor injects dye through an intravenous tube into a vein so that the arteries feeding the AVM and the veins draining the AVM can be viewed in greater detail (computerized tomography angiogram).
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI, more sensitive than a CT scan in showing the AVM, uses powerful magnets and radio waves to create detailed images of your brain.
MRI also provides information about the exact location of the malformation, which is very important for determining treatment options.
Your doctor may inject dye to see the blood circulation in your brain (magnetic resonance angiogram).
- Arteriovenous malformations and other vascular lesions of the central nervous system fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/avms/detail_avms.htm. Accessed Sept. 4, 2013.
- What is an arteriovenous malformation? http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/TypesofStroke/HemorrhagicBleeds/What-Is-an-Arteriovenous-Malformation-AVM_UCM_310099_Article.jsp. American Stroke Association. Accessed Sept. 6, 2013.
- Singer RJ. Brain arteriovenous malformations. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed Sept. 6, 2013.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Sept. 10, 2013.
- Riggin EA. Decision Support System. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 16, 2013.
- Brown RD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 11, 2013.
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