Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is a rare disease disproportionally affecting
patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and may be associated with other
pulmonary or infectious etiologies. Respiratory symptoms are the most common, including
dyspnea, hypoxemia, and hemoptysis. Due to the impairment of normal pulmonary filtration
function, patients with PAVM are at risk for embolic events, ranging from ischemic
strokes to brain abscesses. More importantly, PAVM can enlarge over time or with physiological
changes, which may lead to catastrophic hemorrhages and increased embolization risks.
From imaging perspective, echocardiography with contrast bubbles and computed tomography
can both be used to diagnose PAVMs with high sensitivity and specificity. Treatment
modalities have evolved from invasive surgeries to transluminal catheter-based interventions.
In recent decades, the evolution of interventional techniques and equipment has resulted
in a high technical success rate for the treatment of PAVMs. Here, we present the
interventional PAVM treatment protocol at our institution.
Interventional treatment - multidetector computed tomography - pulmonary arteriovenous
malformation - transthoracic contrast echocardiography