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- Abscess: An infected, inflamed area in the body where pus collects.
- Amblyopia: Poor vision due to non-use of an eye caused by underdevelopment of the visual pathway to the brain.
- Aneurysm: A weakened dilated blood vessel that is prone to rupture (hemorrhage).
- Angiogenesis: Development of blood vessels.
- Angiogram: A test/procedure used to examine blood vessels of an organ such as the brain or lung. A small tube(catheter) is inserted into a vein or artery. A dye is then injected which highlights all the blood vessels and high-speed x-ray pictures are taken.
- Angioid Streaks: Lines resembling blood vessels.
- Angioma: Any malformation made up of blood vessels. These could be veins or a combination of arteries and veins (arteriovenous malformations or AVMs).
- Anticonvulsant: Any medication that counteracts seizures.
- Arterial Blood Gases (ABG): As part of the testing for PAVMs, blood is taken from an artery in the wrist to measure the oxygen level.
- Arteriogram: See angiogram
- Arteriovenous Malformation: An abnormal, direct connection (like a short circuit)between an artery and a vein.
- Asymptomatic: Having no obvious symptoms.
- Autosomal Dominant: A genetic term describing a disorder that affects men and women equally and has a 50% chance to be passed to each of ones offspring.
- AVM: See arteriovenous malformation.