Neurovascular Disease

Neurovascular disease includes conditions such as aneurysms, blood vessel malformations and strokes that can be life-altering. But timely care from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health lowers your risk.

Our team includes vascular neurologists (stroke specialists) who perform detailed assessments and make an accurate diagnosis. You also have access to neurovascular surgeons with advanced fellowship training. Our health system is one of the few in the Pacific Northwest that offers this level of expertise. Find a neurovascular disease specialist.

Our team cares for a broad range of conditions affecting blood vessels in the brain, including: 

• Arteriovenous malformation (AVM): AVMs are an abnormal cluster of arteries and veins  that can rupture. Learn more about AVMs.
• Brain aneurysm: An aneurysm is a blister in a blood vessel wall. It can form when the blood flow creates a weak spot in blood vessel walls. Find out more about brain aneurysms. 
  
• Cavernous malformation: A cavernous malformation is a cluster of abnormal, small blood vessels with thin walls in the brain or spinal cord. 
• Cerebral dural arteriovenous fistula: This fistula type is an unnatural connection between an artery and vein in the brain. 
• Moyamoya disease: Moyamoya disease occurs when narrowing in the main blood vessel supplying the brain causes a tangle of fragile blood vessels to form.
• Stenosis: Stenosis is narrowing of the blood vessels.
• Stroke: A stroke happens when blood flow to the brain is disrupted. It can cause disability and death if not treated immediately. Learn more about stroke.
• Subdural hematoma: A subdural hematoma forms between the skull and brain when blood seeps out of a vessel (due to an injury). Read about subdural hematoma.

The symptoms you experience depend on the type and location of neurovascular disease. 

Symptoms affecting the brain include: 

• Balance issues
• Confusion
• Difficulty speaking or communicating
• Eye and vision changes
• Numbness and weakness
• Seizure
• Severe headache, possibly the worst of your life

Some of these symptoms could be signs of a life-threatening stroke. If you or a loved one experience them, seek emergency medical care. Do not attempt to drive yourself to the hospital.

Signs of neurovascular disease often appear in CT scans and MRIs for other medical issues. Additional evaluations, such as angiography, enable us to assess blood vessels in greater detail. 

Evaluations for stroke-like symptoms take place in our emergency department. Our commitment to efficient, high-quality stroke care has earned our program state and national recognition.

Your personalized treatment plan may include: 

• Observation: For early-stage disease, we regularly check for changes that may signal the condition is progressing.
• Medications: We may prescribe drugs to manage conditions like high blood pressure that contribute to neurovascular disease.
• Lifestyle changes: We may recommend eating a diet low in processed foods and living an active lifestyle.

We treat conditions that are more likely to cause a stroke using methods that require a small incision. You have access to sophisticated options, such as:     

• Coiling: A tiny flexible coil plugs aneurysms and vascular malformations, preventing blood from flowing through them.
• Microsurgical clipping: A small metal clip seals brain aneurysms. 
• Embolization: A vascular malformation is filled with a substance that prevents blood from flowing into it.
• Stenting (flow diversion): Blood vessels are reinforced using a hollow mesh device (stent) to divert blood away from weak or damaged areas. 
• Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS): Focused radiation beams close off blood vessels feeding aneurysms and vascular malformations. 
• Microsurgical resection: Vessels feeding the malformation are closed off or removed.

Care for neurovascular disease resulting in ischemic stroke includes medications or procedures that restore blood flow to the brain. For hemorrhagic stroke, we perform procedures to stop brain bleeds. After you recover, your treatment continues with outpatient neurorehabilitation and outpatient stroke follow-up visits. 

Our specialists care for patients across the Puget Sound area and beyond. Find a neurovascular disease specialist near you.