A cerebral arteriovenous malformation is a tangled web of arteries and veins in the brain. It is typically something you are born with. The tangled nature of the vessels creates high pressure—like a kinked hose—making the abnormality prone to rupture. Approximately 50% of people with an AVM will suffer a hemorrhage in their lifetime. A [...]

An aneurysm is a weakening of a blood vessel. One of the dangers of an aneurysm in the brain is that the vessel wall may rupture and cause a stroke. Brain aneurysms will sometimes “leak” as a precursor to rupture. The classic symptom of such a warning leak—called a subarachnoid hemorrhage—is severe headache of sudden [...]

Our client, a Seattle-area infant, sustained injuries—including anoxic encephalopathy, compartment syndrome, and permanent neurologic impairment—caused by negligent failure to diagnose congenital asplenia, which led to pneumococcal sepsis. Congenital asplenia is a birth defect in which the infant is born with an absent or defective spleen. The spleen plays a critical role in clearing bacteria from [...]