Hi guys. The dr told me about embolization treatment and hopefully we will start in few months, But i want to hear from people who went through with this treatment and their experience with embolization especially with people who had AVM for a long time then treated. I have AVM all over my foot and its very painful, i also want to know if the size of my foot will decrease, now its twice as big as my normal foot.
Ps: any information about the pain after the treatment or the changes would be appriciated
hi or
how are you?I think embolisation has a lot of if and do 's for AVM.Same thing which dr had told you .A lot of Dr told me for amputation ,life threatening ,hard failure a lot of things.So i think this people are not expert for AVM specially complex which i got it.?
Lastly i got Dr from US who is expert in the world for the treatment of AVM.
So he suggested me to embolotherapy using coil and pure alcohol .So he told me to visit Seoul .There is one Dr expert in this field.So i recently did my procedure now i am fine i cure 90% of my avm next time i have to again.
I also got in my right knee .So Surgery and embolisation is not best option for AVM.
Hi, Aylen, there are many different types of embolic agents, including NBCA ("glue"), Onyx, and alcohol. They function differently and have different end results for AVMs and different side effects. So, you first need to discover which embolic agent your doctor is planning to use. Alcohol has the most potential for halting the AVM, but it is difficult to handle and may cause more serious side effects.
It is also very important for you to learn the characteristics of your individual AVM. I posted an article awhile back on Extremity AVMs which suggested that the results of alcohol embolization could be predicted depending on how complex the AVM is. You should see pictures of your AVM and understand how any feeders it has and how large it is. You should also ask how far apart your treatments will be spaced, and how many treatments your doctor believes you will need.
Chemical agents called sclerosants that scar the inside of the blood vessel, allowing the resulting scar tissue to “dam up” the bleeding vessel 2. Mechanical agents that block a bleeding vessel, including metal coils and latex or silicone balloons 3. Particles or microspheres to shore up bleeding within a vessel, including gelatin foam 4. Liquids that provide a barrier within a bleeding vessel, including injected liquid that quickly turns into a thicker gel-like or spongy mass to prevent bleeding from the vessel
Sclerotherapy
Sclerotherapy is a procedure used to treat blood vessels or blood vessel malformations (vascular malformations) and also those of the lymphatic system. A medicine is injected into the vessels, which makes them shrink. It is used for children and young adults with vascular or lymphatic malformations. In ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy, ultrasound is used to visualize the underlying vein so the physician can deliver and monitor the injection. Sclerotherapy is often done under ultrasound guidance after venous abnormalities have been diagnosed with duplex ultrasound. Sclerotherapy under ultrasound guidance and using micro foam sclerosants has been shown to be effective in controlling reflux from the saphenous-femoral and saphenous-popliteal junctions. Absolute ethanol sclerotherapy can deliver excellent results as an independent .Absolute ethanol may be accepted as an effective treatment method because no recurrence has been observed in the relatively long-term observation period and the morbidity has been acceptable. However, it should be reserved only for individuals and centers with expertise.
I agree with you dancermom that Avm is very difcult to handle it with alchol.ie it is dfficult to idenify the expert hand who are very fee in the world.
Hello, I had 4 embolizations to treat an avm in brain. After each, I spent one or two nights in the hospital and then walked out no problem. I'd spend those days pretty doped up and never felt any pain. When I left the hospital, I felt like it never happened. No big deal.
-Chad
I have a large AVM in my right thigh / knee. I've had 9 sclerotherapy procedures now, and they've generally gone very well using alcohol, soltradecol, or a combination of the two. I always left the same day. Pain for me has always been minimal, but that will depend on the location of your AVM. I haven't noticed a change in the size of my leg, but there is always a lot of bruising. It's hard to say really until you have one as each malformation is very different. Hopefully the pain gets better!
Hi Dancermom, very late to this convo but wondering if you still know where I could find that article about alcohol emoblization? It was recently recommended to me by Dr. Suen for an infra-temporal AVM (inside my skull). He said alcohol or onyx could likely resolve the AVM.
Sorry, I am on vacation right now without full computer access, so will send you some articles when I get home next week. I am glad you have a plan now!
I was told by my doctor that emobilization alone, is only 10% effective. Perhaps combined with other treatment options, it can be effective.....but not as an ONLY option. If they don't close off every single artery/vein coupled with that AVM, then it's almost as if they didn't treat it at all.