Do u know which Grade in the Spetzler-Martin Scale ur AVM did have? And where was it located? And was it already treated? Successful? Or how are ur options?
Hi Manux. Some say that a smaller AVM is more dangerous…others believe a larger one can cause more harm. The key to the word obliterated is your determination to find the right doctor. AVMs only occur in about 1% of the population. I will be praying for you!
Mine was a grade 5 stretching across the right frontal lobe and down into the brain. I had a very successful embolization and craniotomy to remove a 4cm x 2cm section, but they can’t touch the 3cm section that stretches deeper into my brain.
I was originally diagnosed with a 5cm in left side of my brain after having an angiogram where they shot dye into the area to get more accurate pictures. After my 45 day checkup following surgey the doctor told me it wasactualy 8cm and the largest he had ever removed. During my embo the first doctor had hit my glue limit so i ended up having a stroke during the cranio portion. The doc estimated that my avm was robbing my brain of 80% of its blood flow and that was causing all of the pain, headaches, etc. Even the heels of my feet hurt.
My AVM and blood clot are gone according to the last MRI 
I am 39 and healthy. The options were to wait to bleed to death in a year or two or cranio to remove. Doctor was concerned about glue treatment becuase i was so young and he was concerned about the glue breaking up later in life. My AVM was too big for gamma. I am convinced that my doctors surgical experience saved my life. I will be forever grateful. I am recovering still from my stroke that left me paralyzed on the right side of my body.
If i was faced with the same thing agian, i would not hesitate to do everything the same.
I have a grade 3 avm. at least that’s the grade i was given by a surgeon here in Nashville TN, however i go to see Dr. Spetzler the one who created the scale with Dr. Martin for another MRI and a craniotomy to remove the avm. Mine is located deeep in brain at hypothalamus pressing against pituitary stalk and not even a cm from my optic chiasim(eye nerves) its centrally located but a little to right side of the middle of my brain. they say its a 3 but its very tiny its the location that gave it a score of 3 but who knows Dr. Spetzler may say that it is higher or smaller when i go to Phoenix in next couple months. but I would recommend if you want to get some really good treatment and see the best surgeon who helped create the grading scale that you do so. He is at Barrow Neurological Institute @ St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix Arizona. Its worth the travel!
Hi Manux. My AVM is a grade 2-3 on the Spetzler scale. The dimensions are 3.7 * 2.7 * 1.8 cm located on my right side. I opted for CK treatment. I had this in April of this year. I will have a MRI scan in 6 months (October 2011) following the radiation treatment. This will be the first indication if the radiation treatment is working. I am hoping that I will see a reduction in the size of the AVM. But it may take 2-3 years for the CK radiation treatment to totally remove it. I presume if there is no change in October then I will need to re-think the next step. But I remain hopeful that the CK will work.