Diagnosis

Often, people with cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) don't show any signs or symptoms. Your diagnosis may result from brain imaging for other neurological conditions, or specific symptoms may prompt your doctor to pursue more extensive testing.

Depending on why the condition is suspected, doctors may order tests specifically to confirm CCMs, or to identify or rule out other related conditions. Brain imaging is also called for as soon as possible after the emergence of any new symptoms, to reveal either hemorrhage or the emergence of any new malformations.

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this test, a detailed picture is made of your brain or spine. The blood vessels in the brain may be imaged as well. Sometimes a doctor may inject a contrast dye into a vein in your arm to look at the brain tissue in a slightly different way, or to better look at the blood vessels in the brain (magnetic resonance angiography or magnetic resonance venography).
• Genetic testing. If you have a family history of the condition, genetic counseling and tests are helpful to identify changes associated with CCMs in genes or chromosomes.