PULMONARY AVM EMBOLISATION
What is pulmonary AVM:
- Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is a rare anomaly of the lung that affects blood flow between the heart and the lungs.
- Affected people have an abnormal connection between the pulmonary vein (carries blood from the lungs to the heart) and pulmonary artery (carries blood from the heart to the lungs).
- Some people will have more than one PAVM; in more than half of patients with multiple PAVM this is associated with a condition called Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangectasia.
- Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations are usually congenital.
What are the symptoms:
- Most patients are asymptomatic, but connection between the venous and arterial system can lead to difficulty in breathing (due to right-to-left shunting), as well as embolic events (leads to stroke or angina).
How they can be treated:
- The aims of treatment of PAVM are to block the PAVM and reduce the risk of stroke, heart failure and improve breathlessness.
- Endovascular therapy is a minimally invasive treatment wherein the feeding artery to the PAVM is occluded with coils or plugs or a combination of both.
- This endovascular treatment is effective as well as safe.
What are benefits of pulmonary AVM embolization:
- As there is no incision, patient gets discharge on next day and able to resume its routine activity.
- Reduce risk of stroke, heart failure and improve breathlessness
Preparation for procedure:
- Few basic blood investigations like CBC, PT/INR, viral markers.
- Bring all the records including imaging record.
- Signing consent form.
What are risks:
- Non-target embolization, chest pain (<1 case in 100).
