Twelve patients with cerebral vascular malformations (5 cavernous angiomas, 1 thrombosed arteriovenous malformation, and 6 venous angiomas) were studied with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. All lesions were clearly depicted. Characteristic MR findings were obtained mainly on T2-weighted images: a markedly low intensity area was always seen. The margins of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and venous angioma were irregular while those of cavernous angioma were smooth in all planes on T2-weighted images. Gradient-echo (GrE) pulse sequences were more sensitive than T2-weighted spin echo (SE) in lesion detection. MR imaging could play an important role in the differential diagnosis of cerebral vascular malformations.