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Vascular Malformation

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Vascular Malformation, Arteriovenous Malformation, AV Malformation, Arteriovenous Fistula, Angiodysplasia

  • Definitions
  1. Arteriovenous Malformation
    1. Abnormal blood vessel configuration in which blood is shunted directly from arteries to veins, bypassing capillaries
    2. Either a single dilated artery or arteriole, or clusters of dilated arteries and arterioles join and connect directly to a vein
    3. Cerebral AV Malformations are the most common Clinically Significant AVMs, and risk Intracerebral Hemorrhage
  2. Arteriovenous Fistula
    1. Subtype of AV Malformation, in which a single dilated artery connects to a single vein
  3. Angiodysplasia
    1. Acquired dilation or ectasia of blood vessels, that develops with aging
    2. Results in single, tortuous, thin walled vessels (esp. capillaries) prone to bleeding
    3. Most commonly affects the Gastrointestinal Tract, presenting with GI Bleeding
  • Background
  1. Vascular Malformations are a subset of vascular anomalies (vascular tumors and Vascular Malformations)
    1. Vascular tumors include Hemangiomas (infantile or Congenital Hemangiomas)
  2. Vascular Malformation Types (vascular proliferation)
    1. Slow flow (venous)
      1. Capillary malformation
      2. Venous malformation
      3. Lymphatic malformation
    2. Fast flow (arterial)
      1. Arterial malformation
      2. Arteriovenous Fistula
      3. Arteriovenous Malformation
  • Causes
  • Genetic AV Malformation
  1. Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT, or Osler-Weber-Rendu Syndrome)
    1. Spontaneous Epistaxis
    2. Mucocutaneous Telangiectasia
    3. Visceral Arteriovenous Malformations
    4. HHT Family History
  2. Capillary Malformation - Arteriovenous Malformation (CM-AVM)
  3. Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM)
  4. Cutaneous Venous Malformation (VMCM)
  • References
  1. Zyck and Sampath (2021) Arteriovenous Malformations, Stat Pearls, Treasure Island, accessed 3/30/2022
  2. Whitehead (2013) Cold Spring Harb Persp Med 3:a006635 [PubMed]