Few people know what an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is. Robert Hall certainly didn’t – until he suffered a brain seizure on August 23rd and awoke to find himself in the hospital, surrounded by his family.

AVMs are a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain. According to Italo Linfante, M.D., Medical Director of Interventional Neuroradiology and Endovascular Neurosurgery at Miami Neuroscience Institute and Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute – both a part of Baptist Health South Florida – brain AVMs are rare, affecting an estimated 10 to 18 adults out of 100,000.

The danger with an AVM, though, is that it can rupture without warning and cause a brain hemorrhage, or bleeding on the brain, which can be instantly fatal,” Dr. Linfante says.

more info : Top Stories Baptist Health South Florida