Hope and Help for Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) Patients
For years, Noemi Spears had been living with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), an abnormal collection of blood vessels in her brain that caused seizures, headaches, loss of consciousness and changes in her vision. Noemi was treated by a multidisciplinary team of doctors at Baptist Health Neuroscience Center, who successfully removed the AVM in Noemi's brain and actually improved her vision.
[Transcript]
[Arteriovenous malformations are a rare condition affecting about 250,000 people in the United States]
[Symptoms include sudden and severe headache, nausea & vomiting, seizures and loss of consciousness.]
[Noemi Spears]
But I love the fact that I can't seem to wipe the smile off my face, I just smile from ear to ear.
[Speaker 2]
On May 14, 2012, the time bomb in Noemi Spears brain was diffused. She had lived with the arteriovenous malformation, commonly called AVM, for 10 years. 32 year old Noemi was cured by an expert team of doctors at Baptist Hospital in Miami, Florida, which is at the forefront of providing treatments for patients like her.
[Jack Klem]
Noemi was referred to us here at Baptist for an arteriovenous malformation that had been treated previously, however, it was still active and at risk for bleeding, thereby compromising her ability to enjoy life.
[Barry T. Katzen]
Vascular malformations are an abnormal collection of blood vessels, that means things like arteries, veins, occasionally lymphatic vessels, and they don't develop in a normal way. They can be detected if they're on the skin because you can actually see them, but if they're deep to the skin they may remain hidden for long periods of time, and only be detected by accident. Here at the Institute we see vascular malformations in virtually every part of the body.
[Showing before and after Arterovenous]
[Sergio Gonzalez-Arias]
At Baptist we have a group of multi-specialties that can deliver all the treatment options required for malformations of the brain or the spinal cord. In Noemi's case we had Dr. Italo Linfante endovascular procedure specialist, and Dr. Jack Klem who collaborated to treat her arteriovenous malformation. Dr. Linfante paved the way with his endovascular treatment of Noemi's malformation for then Dr. Klem, be able to remove it surgically, definitively treating her malformation.
[Doctors performing surgery]
[Italo Linfante]
For the role of endovascular embolization is important for two reasons. First reason is because you can actually sometimes cure the vascular malformation just with endovascular approach. Most commonly, however, we can reduce the size or render this bomb, so to say, ineffective, so that the traditional surgery can be performed safely.
[Hospital employees working]
[Speaker 2]
Naomi was living a normal, healthy life before the AVM caused a brain hemorrhage at the age of 23. In subsequent years, she suffered numbness on one side of her body from the stroke. As the AVM in her brain bled on and off, she had seizures, debilitating headaches, loss of consciousness and changes in her vision. Until now, doctors were unable to help her.
[Noemi Spears]
I mean, these doctors are amazing at Baptist. They got right on it, found it and already put the puzzle together in less than a year.
[Jack Klem]
I believe that Naomi's outcome has been fantastic. This was an arteriovenous malformation uniquely positioned within her visual cortex and we were able to preserve and in fact, improve her vision.
[Italo Linfante]
So our outcome was a typical outcome for a patient that we treat nowadays and she did very well. She had no complications whatsoever.
[Noemi crying]
[Noemi Spears]
Every inch of me tells me my brain's fine and it's unbelievable. It's incredible, the feeling that my body feels. So, yeah, it's done.
[Baptist Health South Florida]
[End Transcript]
