Venous angiomas or developmental venous anomalies (DVA) are a type of vascular deformation that affects small blood vessels, often in the brain and spinal cord. Most people with DVA do not experience symptoms and only learn about the condition when undergoing diagnostic imaging for another procedure.
Congenital health conditions are ones that a person is born with. That means the vascular malformities that characterize DVA are present from birth.
In the majority of people with DVA, there is no family history of the disorder, which means that it is not typically an inherited condition. However, DVA can sometimes run in families, as relatives may exhibit a specific gene mutation that is linked to this particular vascular deformity.
While DVA is not a genetic disorder itself, it can be present alongside other health conditions that are inherited. In this case, doctors may discover the DVA while in the process of diagnosing other disorders.
As a congenital condition, it is not possible to prevent DVA from occurring according to what medical researchers know now. However, the majority of DVAs do not cause health issues, so the outlook is usually good for people who have the condition.