The Cerebral Arterio-Venous Malformations Radiological Portrayal

Abstract

Increased detection and characterization of incidental cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) have been documented as a consequence of the more and more recurrent utilization of the most advanced multimodal imaging examinations. The natural history and pathophysiology of cerebral AVM are still not well understood, and its multidisciplinary management is still highly debatable and very controversial. However, the scientific and clinical understanding of cerebral AVMs is practically constantly evolving each and every day. It is clear from previous and current documentation that AVMs can undergo a plethora of very different phenomena, including growth and re-growth, complex and various remodeling, progression, or regression, and all the previously mentioned processes are presumably a combination of both molecular, submolecular, physiological, and pathophysiological mechanisms. A deeper perception and understanding of these complex processes are crucial and of paramount importance to directing future proper and optimal therapeutic approaches. Hereby is represented a 56-years-old subject operated on approximately 40 years ago in Russia due to ruptured aneurysms coming to the tertial health unit due to the sudden onset of complex clinical symptoms (crisis of consciousness, headache in the previous 3 days, left-sided hemiparesis middle-degree in past medical history, with vomiting), with a special focus on cerebral AVM radiological portrayal and also discussing the different imaging techniques at the moment available for detecting cerebral AVMs with reference to the advantages and major drawbacks of each imaging modality and future perspectives in this field. As comprehension and awareness in the field of cerebral AVMs continue to advance and breakthrough, the natural history and predicted clinical and neurological behavior of cerebral AVMs will hopefully become in the nearest future more and more clearly and minutely elucidated.