General Information About Cavernoma
Disease Details and Frequently Asked Questions
It is the joining together of capillaries with very thin and irregular walls containing slow-flowing blood within the brain or spinal cord tissue, forming a tangle of vessels resembling a blackberry.
No. Cavernomas are completely benign (non-cancerous) vascular abnormalities. It is not a cellular proliferation, but merely a congenital defect in the vascular structure.
Many people experience no symptoms throughout their lives. However, when blood leaks from these thin-walled vessels into the brain; epileptic seizures, persistent headaches, visual or speech disturbances, and numbness in the limbs (neurological deficits) begin.
Cavernomas do not cause sudden fatal results by high-pressure bleeding like aneurysms (vascular balloons) do. They generally cause minor bleeds in the form of a leak, but if the leak recurs frequently, it damages the brain tissue.
They are generally not visible on classical computed tomography (CT) or angiography. The gold standard method for definitive diagnosis and to see the structure of the lesion is Contrast-Enhanced Brain Magnetic Resonance (MRI) imaging.
Small cavernomas that do not cause any complaints are monitored only with regular MRIs. If they cause recurrent bleeding or epileptic seizures, they are safely removed from that area via microsurgery by the Neurosurgery department.
Our health library contents are prepared for informational purposes only and with scientific data available at the time of recording. For all your questions, concerns, diagnosis, or treatment regarding your health, please consult your doctor or a healthcare institution.
