Pregnancy increases rupture risk for brain arteriovenous malformations

At the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery's (SNIS) 22nd Annual Meeting today, researchers presented findings about how pregnancy can worsen the rupture risk for brain arteriovenous malformations, abnormal connections between arteries and veins whose rupture can result in serious brain injury or death.

During pregnancy, hormonal shifts and the increased demand on the heart to pump a higher volume of blood can place added strain on both the body and the brain. Researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson recently investigated whether these physical changes can aggravate health issues for pregnant women with three brain conditions that are prone to rupturing and causing serious brain injury: arteriovenous malformations (abnormal tangles of blood vessels that disrupt blood flow), brain aneurysms (bulges in weakened brain arteries that can cause stroke if ruptured), and cavernous malformations (unusually shaped blood vessels that can cause brain bleeding if ruptured).

In the study, "Rupture Risk of Intracranial Vascular Malformations During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis," the research team reviewed 5,609 journal articles from multiple academic databases that discussed pregnant women with these conditions, ultimately choosing 15 to statistically analyze. They then used data from the articles to group patients by whether they experienced a rupture. The scientists found that while pregnancy didn't seem to make a major difference in rupture rates for women with brain aneurysms and cavernous malformations, pregnant women with arteriovenous malformations were much more likely to experience ruptures than non-pregnant women with the same condition.

These findings show that we still have much to learn about how pregnancy affects the brain. We need more research into these effects and their potential causes so that doctors can more precisely target how to treat pregnant women with these and other serious health conditions." 

Evan Bowen, medical student, University of Mississippi Medical Center