Hi Patti,

It's important to differentiate between a venous angioma and a cavernous
angioma. Do you know which you have? A venous angioma is a vein that is
somewhat misformed but is doing a normal function. Many people have them (up to
10% of the population), and they usually don't cause problems.

A cavernous angioma is somewhat different. It is a raspberry-shaped vascular
malformation that can create some problems down the road. When a neurologist
says that the angioma is benign, he probably means that it is not a cancer - by
definition, this is true. He may also mean that it has not had a bleed. It's
thought that 50% of people with cavernous angiomas never know that they have
them because they have no symptoms. What is of concern in your case is that you
have more than one. If these are cavernous angiomas rather than venous angiomas
or a cavernous/venous angioma combination, this is a strong sign that the
condition may be genetic and that other members of your immediate family could
have the illness as well. With the genetic form, each child of a person with
the illness has a 50/50 chance of having the illness. Unfortunately, many
neurologists are not familiar with this fact or don't feel they need to share
this.

If you are not sure about whether you have a venous or cavernous angioma, please
call your doctor or get a copy of your MRI report. Also, there is a good deal
of information about cavernous angiomas and some info about venous angiomas at
the Angioma Alliance website, www.AngiomaAlliance.org.

Connie Lee
President
Angioma Alliance


---- pmbeers2000 <PMbeers@...> wrote:
> By accident my neurologist found from a MRI that I have two angiomas in
> my brain. I had a follow up CT scan that showed that they are benign.
> I have not found much information on the internet about angiomas at
> all. Can anyone tell me what is the difference between a benign
> angioma and one that is not benign? All my doctor told me was keep my
> blood pressure normal and let him know if I have any bad headaches.
>
> =Patti
>
>
>