Duke's Cerebrovascular Center offers advanced treatments for arteriovenous malformations (AVM).

An AVM is an abnormal collection of blood vessels where blood flows from the arteries directly into the veins, bypassing the capillaries altogether.

When in the brain, AVMs often create large flows of blood that build in pressure, placing a patient at risk for seizures, hemorrhage, neurological injury, and even death.

Diagnosis

AVMs are diagnosed either incidentally with CT or MRI scans or after a hemorrhage or seizure.

Patients at Duke usually undergo an angiogram to better define the AVM and determine if associated cerebral aneurysms are encountered.

Treatment

At Duke, we treat AVMs with embolization, radiation, surgery, or a combination of these methods. To prevent a hemorrhage, the AVM must be completely eliminated.

Each treatment has advantages and disadvantages, and your team of doctors will consult and decide which treatment option is best for your situation.

Learn more about the specific treatment options:

• Embolization
• Microsurgical treatment
• Radiation

Before and After

The following images show how brain AVMs appear in the brain before and during surgery.

A 37-year-old man suffered a seizure. An MRI scan was done to diagnose the problem.

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MRI revealed he had a brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

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After carefully evaluating his case, doctors performed selective embolization of the AVM followed by surgical resection. He has had no more neurological problems since the surgery.

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Appointments

For information about scheduling an appointment with a specific doctor, visit the Contact Us page.

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Enterline, David S.
  • Radiology / Neuroradiology
• Kirkpatrick, John P.
  • Radiation Oncology / Radiation Onc-Clinical Sup
  • Surgery / Neurosurgery
• Smith, Tony P.
  • Radiology / Vasc/Intervention Radiology
• Zomorodi, Ali R.
  • Surgery / Neurosurgery

Locations

This service is available at:

• Duke Health Center at Morreene Road (Neuroscience)
  932 Morreene Road, Durham, NC 27705
• Duke Neurosurgery of Raleigh
  3480 Wake Forest Road, Suite 410, Raleigh, NC 27609
• Duke University Hospital
  2301 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27710