[1] The most frequently observed problems related to a cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) are headaches and seizures, cranial nerve afflictions including pinched nerve and palsy,[2][3] backaches, neckaches, and nausea from coagulated blood that has made its way down to be dissolved in the cerebrospinal fluid.

[3] Other common symptoms are a pulsing noise in the head, progressive weakness, numbness and vision changes as well as debilitating, excruciating pain.

[7] Symptoms due to bleeding include loss of consciousness, sudden and severe headache, nausea, vomiting, incontinence, and blurred vision, amongst others.

[4] Impairments caused by local brain-tissue damage on the bleed site are also possible, including seizure, one-sided weakness (hemiparesis), a loss of touch sensation on one side of the body and deficits in language processing (aphasia).

[8] AVMs in certain critical locations may stop the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid, causing it to accumulate within the skull and giving rise to a clinical condition called hydrocephalus.

[9] A cerebral AVM is an abnormal anastomosis (connection) between the arteries and veins in the brain due to the lack of a capillary bed, and are most commonly of prenatal origin.

[5][13] Three main techniques are used to visualize the brain and search for an AVM: computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cerebral angiography.

[16] Importantly, eloquent areas are often defined differently across studies[17] where deep cerebellar nuclei, cerebral peduncles, thalamus, hypothalamus, internal capsule, brainstem, and the visual cortex could be included.

[18] A limitation of the Spetzler-Martin Grading system is that it does not include the following factors: Patient age, hemorrhage, diffuseness of nidus, and arterial supply.

[20] Surgery is performed by a neurosurgeon who temporarily removes part of the skull (craniotomy), separates the AVM from surrounding brain tissue, and resects the abnormal vessels.

[20] While surgery can result in an immediate, complete removal of the AVM, risks exist depending on the size and the location of the malformation.

The Gamma Knife is an apparatus used to precisely apply a controlled radiation dosage to the volume of the brain occupied by the AVM.

In one large study, nine percent of patients had transient neurological symptoms, including headache, after radiosurgery for AVM.

[24] Embolization is performed by interventional neuroradiologists and the occlusion of blood vessels most commonly is obtained with ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (Onyx) or n-butyl cyanoacrylate.

These substances are introduced by a radiographically guided catheter, and block vessels responsible for blood flow into the AVM.

[28][b] Because of the higher-than-expected experimental event rate (e.g. stroke or death), patient enrollment was halted by May 2013, while the study intended to follow participants (over a planned 5 to 10 years) to determine which approach seems to produce better long-term results.