Abstract
Objectives. The paper is aimed at a brief review of pathophysiology, prevalence and typical radiological fi ndings of vascular anomalies in the brain. The following defects are discussed: developmental venous anomaly (DVA), cavernous malformation (CM), arteriovenous malformation (AVM), intracranial pial arteriovenous fi stula (AVF), and capillary telangiectasia (CTS).
Review. Vascular anomalies in the brain are more and more often incidentally discovered nowadays due to the growing frequency of imaging examinations of the head. These intracranial vascular changes may be asymptomatic and uncomplicated, but some of them increase the risk for acute intracranial hemorrhage, seizures, or focal neurological defi cits.
Conclusions. Developmental venous anomalies (DVA) are at present the most often identifi ed vascular malformations in the CNS, occurring in 0.48‒2.56% of individuals. A majority of DVAs and CTSs produce no symptoms. Patients with arteriovenous malformation (AVM), cavernous malformation (CM), or intracranial pial arteriovenous fi stula (AVF) are at an increased risk of hemorrhage, seizures, or focal neurological defi cits. Morphology of these malformations in imaging examinations may indicate an increased risk of bleeding.