Cavernous angioma: a clinical study of 35 cases with review of the literature

Authors: Ebrahimi, Azadeh¹; Etemadifar, Masoud²; Ardestani, Pooneh M.³; Maghzi, Amir H.⁴; Jaffe, Stephen⁵; Nejadnik, Hossein⁶

Source: Neurological Research, Volume 31, Number 8, October 2009 , pp. 785-793(9)

Publisher: Maney Publishing

Key:

- Free Content

- New Content

- Subscribed Content

- Free Trial Content

Abstract:

Background: Cavernous angioma is a vascular malformation which can be found in any region within the central nervous system.

Objectives: There are few clinical and demographic cavernous angioma studies with large sample sizes. Therefore, the present study was designed to provide further information on the clinical and demographic characteristics of cavernous angioma using a relatively large sample of Persian patients.

Methods: Patients with cavernous angioma were recruited from the outpatient neurology clinics in Isfahan, Iran, from October 2003 to October 2006.

Results: In all cases, the diagnosis of cavernous angioma was based on brain magnetic resonance imaging. There were 35 patients (female/male: 17 : 18) identified with cavernous angioma. The mean age at presentation was 28.8 years. Initial manifestations included seizures in 16, headache in 11 and intracranial hemorrhage in eight patients. During follow-up, all patients experienced seizures and 19 developed headaches. Depression, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, disequilibrium, loss of consciousness and sensorimotor symptoms were also observed.

Conclusion: Some of the findings of the present study were in accordance with previous studies. However, more of our patients with positive family history had solitary rather than multiple lesions, and more of our patients had generalized tonic-clonic seizures rather than partial seizures. Moreover, our data demonstrated that if there is a history of cavernous angioma with intracranial hemorrhage in family members, the presenting cavernous angioma patient is more prone to intracranial hemorrhage.

Keywords: CAVERNOUS ANGIOMA; NEUROIMAGING; CLINICAL STUDY

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1179/016164109X12445505689445

Affiliations: 1: Department of Neurology, Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan 81746, Iran. azadeh.ebrahimi@daad-alumni.de 2: Department of Neurology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, Isfahan Neuroscience Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan 81744, Iran 3: Department of Neurology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran 4: Department of Neurology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan Neuroscience Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran 5: Department of Neurology, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Shreveport, LA, USA 6: Department of Radiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$51.00 plus tax Refund Policy

Key:

- Free Content

- New Content

- Subscribed Content

- Free Trial Content

Share this item with others: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.