Will surgery on my AVM help improve my short term memory?

Brenda_K · September 2, 2012, 10:21pm

Will surgery on my AVM help improve my short term memory?
I have an AVM (in my right frontal lobe) have ALWAYS had a terrible short term memory. I have also recently discovered that my lack of perception is actually sensory processing/sensory integration disorder. When I watch T.V. shows, it is hard for me to remember similar faces so that I can know who the 'bad guys' and 'good guys' are. I wonder sometimes if it is just another symptom of my terrible short term memory or really is sensory processing issues. I live by Rochester, Minnesota, and I am being referred.

My aunt has epilepsy, and my son has a cisterna-magma. At my 8th month ultrasound I was told he had a Dandy Walker cyst, but that proved to be untrue. He is brilliant and does NOT have Dandy Walker Syndrome. From what I read, these are related to AVM in that they have tangled blood vessels.

Could this be hereditary?

MY MOST PRESSING QUESTION IS:
I was in a bike accident, and it was an incidental finding. If Mayo Clinic chooses to do the surgery, can it improve my short term memory?

Madere_dancermom · September 2, 2012, 11:12pm

Brenda, if you run a search on "hereditary," you can read past discussions about this. The short answer is some of our members have had multiple family members with cerebral AVMs. Sometimes, it's from conditions like HHT or Cowden Syndrome, and sometimes not.

As to improving your short term memory, no one here can predict your experience; we can only relate ours. Run a search on "short term memory," and see if you find anyone who reports improvement after surgery. Best wishes!

Rich2 · September 4, 2012, 4:12pm

altho im not a doctor, im pretty sure i can say that surgery will not improve your memory. How can it be anyway? Once the damage is done to the brain, surgery is not an option to then improve ones memory. If that was possible, i think everyone would have it, be it AVM or not. maybe one day, in the future, that STEM cell technology may one day be able to replace genetic cells, and there are trials happening right now, but not right now.