What are the symptoms of congenital cerebrovascular malformations in children?

Some congenital diseases can be detected during the fetal period through advanced medical technology, but some congenital diseases cannot be detected based on current medical standards. So, after the child is born, if parents can pay attention to the changes in their child, they can still see it. For example, for children with cerebrovascular malformations, parents need to understand the symptoms of these congenital diseases.

(1) Newborns: Most newborns suffer from congestive heart failure, which is caused by a large amount of arterial blood flowing into the veins, which the heart cannot tolerate. The sick children may show symptoms of dyspnea and cyanosis, and may also have hydrocephalus and convulsions.

(2) Infancy: Due to the significant dilation of the great cerebral veins, compression of surrounding tissues or stenosis of the aqueduct, secondary obstructive hydrocephalus is caused. Physical examination shows an enlarged head, distended scalp and facial veins, optic disc edema, and cardiomegaly. Auscultation of the head may reveal a continuous, loud, localized murmur. In addition, the child may have convulsions, nosebleeds, and psychomotor retardation.

(3) Older children: Due to rupture of the communicating cerebral blood vessels, subarachnoid hemorrhage or intracerebral hemorrhage is common. Neurological signs vary depending on the location of brain tissue damage caused by the hemorrhage. The patient may present with headache, nausea, vomiting and impaired consciousness. He may also have dizziness, convulsions, aphasia or organic mental illness. Physical examination may reveal mild hemiplegia, cranial nerve paralysis, proptosis, ptosis, strabismus, pupillary reflex disappearance and optic disc edema. Skull X-rays of this disease can show increased intracranial pressure and may have curvilinear calcifications. Diagnosis depends on continuous cerebral vascular angiography (mostly vertebral artery angiography), which can show the presence of an aneurysm caused by an arteriovenous fistula in the Calen vein area. The proximal end is supplied by an abnormally large and densely developed cerebral artery, and the distal end has an extremely dilated and circuitous drainage vein that enters the intracranial venous sinus.

The above content is the different manifestations of congenital cerebrovascular malformations in children at three different stages. Because children are young and cannot express themselves, parents need to have certain knowledge about the disease. When they find that their children have the above symptoms, they must pay attention to seek medical treatment in time to avoid missing the best treatment time for the child due to delays.