Vascular malformations of the brain are collections of various blood vessels in the brain that are malformed and thus, affect brain circulation.
While these vascular masses are not dangerous tumors, they can cause diverse symptoms. While a vascular malformation causes no symptoms and can go unnoticed, some occurrences of unruptured blood vessel swellings may cause issues by compressing areas in the brain and altering brain circulation. In these cases, the unruptured blood vessels can cause symptoms such as headaches, seizures, or stroke-like symptoms, such as changes in the ability to think, changes in vision or speaking, changes in movements, weakness or paralysis.