Finally finding answers for cavernous malformation

It was early morning and Tiffany and Joe Palowski were worried. Their son, Michael, was undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to determine the cause of his excruciating headache. The test — only expected to take about 45 minutes — now approached the two-hour mark. “They had to have found something,” Tiffany said as her panic rose. “I know they did.” About 10 days earlier, Michael had gotten sick, vomiting so intensely that he began throwing up blood. The 6-year-old had spent a week in a local hospital with a suspected case of norovirus before being sent home. But then he’d developed a headache that wouldn’t clear up. Thinking he might have a migraine, the family returned to the same hospital in Connecticut. But now they wondered if more than a migraine was in play. More than a migraine Tiffany’s fears were confirmed when doctors explained that the MRI had revealed a pea-sized hemorrhage from a mass in Michael’s brain. The good news, they said, was that these masses of small blood vessels — known as cavernous malformations — don’t usually bleed again right away. But two days later, the pattern of illness started all over again. The malformation had bled again in just 48 hours. Although Michael’s physicians initially recommended surgery within a few days, they soon changed their minds. Now it was unclear what the treatment would be. “It was like living in a Peanuts cartoon where you can’t understand what the adults are saying,” s...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories cavernous malformations Cerebrovascular Surgery and Interventions Center Dr. Edward Smith Second opinion Source Type: news