A.J. Price to Return to Classes Jan. 18
STORRS, CONNECTICUT (January 6, 2005)-- University of Connecticut freshman
men’s basketball player A.J. Price will return to classes beginning January 18,
but will not see action on the basketball court during the 2004-05 season.
A.J. underwent a cerebral angiogram on Tuesday, January 4 at Brigham &
Women’s Hospital under the care of Dr. Arthur Day, M.D.. The angiogram confirmed
the previous suspicions of Dr. Day, that A.J. has a vascular abnormality known
as an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM).
-- Arteriovenous malformations (AVM’s) are masses of abnormal blood vessels
which grow in the brain. They consist of a blood vessel "nidus" or nest through
which arteries connect directly to veins, instead of through the elaborate
collection of very small vessels called capillaries. Some people are born with
the nidus, but as the years go by, it tends to enlarge as the great pressure of
the arterial vessels can not be handled by the veins that drain out of it. This
causes a large collection of worm-like vessels to develop or malform into a mass
capable of bleeding at some future time.--
Dr. Day, A.J. and the Price family have decided on a course of treatment
known as radiosurgery. Radiosurgery is when a focused beam of radiation is used
to start the process of eliminating the malformation and that process then
continues over time.
A date has not yet been set for the Radiosurgery, but will take place as soon
as possible, and will take place on an outpatient basis.
It can take a number of months for an AVM to resolve after radiosurgery. For
that reason, A.J. will not be participating with the basketball team in practice
or games until follow-up studies show resolution of the AVM.
A.J. suffered an intracranial hemorrhage on October 4 and was rushed to
Hartford Hospital. Price left Hartford Hospital on October 18 and returned to
the Storrs campus prior to the start of the UConn regular season.
He is currently with the team and will travel this weekend to Georgetown and
Oklahoma with the Huskies.
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