A Simple Guide to Arteriovenous Malformations, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Arteriovenous Malformations, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

I was watching an episode of Transplant, a Canadian TV series in which there was a female patient who suffered from back pain and became addicted to morphine derivative medicines.
She suddenly started bleeding in the skull and developed seizures.
The usual blood tests and CT and MRI imaging could not detect the cause.
Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and Super-selective angiography was able to detect AVMs on the back of the spine which caused her back pain and in the brain causing her to bleed in the brain and had seizures.
With a proper diagnosis, the medical team in the hospital was thus able to treat her.

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are formed when a group of blood vessels in the body develops incorrectly.

In these malformations, arteries and veins are abnormally twisted and form direct connections, bypassing normal tissues such as capillaries.

This normally happens during development before birth or shortly after.

Most patients with AVMs do not have early signs and symptoms.

Instead, the disorder is detected when doctors are treating another unrelated health disorder.

Occasionally the rupture of one blood vessel in an AVM will capture medical attention.

Occasionally AVMs are only discovered after death during an autopsy.

No one knows the reason that AVMs form.

Some doctors think that the cause of developing AVMs could be genetic.

AVMs can form anywhere in the body.

Those that develop in the brain or close to the spinal cord, termed neurological AVMs, are most prone to have long-term effects.

The biggest problem linked to AVMs is that they will cause uncontrolled bleeding or hemorrhage.

Fewer than 4 % of AVMs will hemorrhage but those that do can produce severe, even fatal, effects.

Death as a direct effect of an AVM happens in about 1 % of people with AVMs.

Occasionally AVMs can decrease the quantity of oxygen reaching the brain and spinal cord (sometimes termed a steal effect as if the blood was being stolen from where it should flow).

AVMs can occasionally apply pressure on neighboring tissues.

The steal effect can also happen elsewhere in the body such as the hands or feet but may not be as obvious.

Frequent symptoms of brain AVMs are:
Bleeding in the skull, most often a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage
Seizures
Headaches
Focal neurological deficits, such as weakness, numbness, tingling to one part or side of the body

Frequent symptoms for AVMs evident in the organs, chest, or abdomen are:
Abdominal pain
Back pain
Chest pain
Irregular sounds in the affected blood vessels

The final diagnosis of AVM is normally made based on imaging tests that demonstrate areas of blood flow.
MRI is essential for the initial diagnosis of AVM
Magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) produces images of the blood vessels

The treatment of an AVM is directed on treating the symptoms and improving the quality of life of the patient.

There are no medicines that have been shown to cure an AVM.
Medicines are given to relieve pain and stop seizures.

There are three invasive treatment methods:
Conventional surgery is done to totally remove a small or moderate AVM
Radiosurgery treats small unruptured AVM
Embolization and sclerotherapy are the most frequent treatments to treat AVMs
Materials such as medical glue, metal coils or even plugs are placed into the center of the AVM through a catheter to block blood flow and kill the AVM

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Arteriovenous Malformations
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Osler-Weber-Rendu Syndrome
Chapter 8 Hemangioma
Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Apr 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215733554

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

To

Arteriovenous Malformations,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2023 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Arteriovenous Malformations, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Arteriovenous Malformations)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return the book to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Arteriovenous malformations

I was watching an episode of Transplant, a Canadian TV series in which there was a female patient who suffered from back pain and became addicted to morphine derivative medicines.

She suddenly started bleeding in the skull and developed seizures.

The usual blood tests and CT and MRI imaging could not detect the cause.

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and Super-selective angiography was able to detect AVMs on the back of the spine which caused her back pain and in the brain causing her to bleed in the brain and had seizures.

With a proper diagnosis, the medical team in the hospital was thus able to treat her.

What are Arteriovenous malformations?

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are formed when a group of blood vessels in the body develops incorrectly.

In these malformations, arteries and veins are abnormally twisted and form direct connections, bypassing normal tissues such as capillaries.

This normally happens during development before birth or shortly after.

Most patients with AVMs do not have early signs and symptoms.

Instead, the disorder is detected when doctors are treating another unrelated health disorder.

Occasionally the rupture of one blood vessel in an AVM will capture medical attention.

Occasionally AVMs are only discovered after death during an autopsy.

No one knows the reason that AVMs form.

Some doctors think that the cause of developing AVMs could be genetic.

AVMs can form anywhere in the body.

Those that develop in the brain or close to the spinal cord, termed neurological AVMs, are most prone to have long-term effects.