Department of Neurosurgery

A cavernous malformation, also known as cavernoma, is a clearly circumscribed lesion made up of many small compartments, or lobules, which contain blood products and are enclosed by thin and fragile endothelialized walls. Most times, cavernomas are very small, nevertheless, hemorrhages may occur.

Cavernomas become symptomatic by micro bleeds.

A clinically significant bleed occurs in 1 out of 5 patients. The bleeding risk is put at 0.5 to 1 percent. According to literature, this risk is increased if the cavernoma had already bled once.

The symptoms are dependent on the localisation of the cavernoma and may be epileptic seizures, or also neurological deficits, such as paralysis or paraesthesis, especially when the cavernoma is located in an area of eloquent brain or in the spinal cord.

The treatment of cavernomas is exclusively performed by surgical removal of the lesion.

Especially for deeply located cavernomas, a precise pre-surgical planning through MRI scans is necessary. Our OR is equipped with all modern, intrasurgical equipment such as operation microscope, ultrasound, neuronavigation and intraoperative neuromonitoring in order to perform the surgical resection even in critical areas as gentle as possible.