Walsh and Hoyt's Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology

Vascular Malformations and Tumors of Blood Vessels

This chapter describes vascular formations and blood vessel tumors.

"Vascular malformations are congenital anomalies. Many are asymptomatic but some produce neurologic findings. Neuro-ophthalmic manifestations may result from direct compression, altered blood flow, increased intracranial pressure, or hemorrhagic complications. The vascular malformations include (a) capillary telangiectases; (b) cavernous malformations (cavernous angiomas); (c) venous malformations (venous angiomas, developmental venous anomalies); and (d) arteriovenous malformations (AVM). Most are AVMs (60%) with the remainder being capillary telangiectases (12%), cavernous malformations (13%), and venous malformations (15%). Although we discuss the individual entities separately, multiple or mixed lesions may occur (1,2)."