Intracerebral venous angioma. Case report and review.

Only a few cases of angiographically demonstrated and pathologically proved cases of venous angiomas have been published. In contrast to the scarcity of recorded cases of angiographically studied venous angiomas, they are the most common incidentally encountered angiomatous lesions at autopsy. Their angiographic characterization, though highly suggestive, is not pathognomonic. The angiographic characteristics include small radiating veins that drain into a larger transcerebral vein that in turn empties into a dural sinus; blush and early draining veins also may be seen. The differential diagnosis includes telangiectasia, infiltrating glioma, and probably a cavernous angioma. We report an angiographically demonstrated and pathologically proved case of a venous angioma and also review the literature.