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A cavernous malformation is a small, round, cluster of abnormal, enlarged blood vessels, without any brain tissue between them. It is purple in colour and resembles a raspberry.

Although the correct term is cavernous malformation, some doctors may call it a "cavernoma", "cavernous angioma", or "cavernous haemangioma". Cavernous malformations vary in size from a few millimetres to a few centimetres across, and can be found anywhere within the brain. Sometimes, they are associated with a nearby venous malformation (see below). Cavernous malformations are uncommon and affect less than 1% of the population, although they are being recognised more often with modern brain scanning techniques. They do not appear to be more common in certain countries or races, apart from Hispanic Americans. Men and women are affected equally.

 

 

 

 

Figure 3: MRI scans showing (1) a normal brain (as if viewed from the feet) and (2) a cavernous malformation (arrowed) in the left temporal lobe of the brain.

What causes cavernous malformations?
In some families with relatives affected by cavernous malformations in different generations, a genetic cause has been identified: a mutation in a gene on the seventh chromosome. Although a cavernous malformation usually occurs on its own, in these families they are often multiple. It is not yet known why cavernous malformations affect people who do not have any affected relatives, but they are not cancerous, nor are they infectious.