[Diagnosis and therapy of cerebral angiomas]

Cerebral angiomas are rare, congenital malformations of the cerebral blood vessels. Approximately 60 new cases are diagnosed in Switzerland each year. These malformations become symptomatic most often with cerebral hemorrhage, epilepsy or intractable headache. Total excision is the only curative therapy. Alternative treatments are embolization with isobutyl-cyanoacrylate or high energy radiotherapy, although these latter procedures rarely achieve complete obliteration. Indications for the different therapeutic modalities are discussed.