What is a brain aneurysm?
An aneurysm is a weak spot in a blood vessel wall resulting in a balloon-like bulge.
Brain aneurysms most commonly form in the arteries of the brain due to wear and tear, and less commonly due to injury or infection. Anywhere from 1 to 5% of the general population may have a brain aneurysm and never know it, unless the aneurysm ruptures or is incidentally discovered on brain imaging for other reasons.
Brain aneurysms most commonly form in the arteries of the brain due to wear and tear, and less commonly due to injury or infection. Anywhere from 1 to 5% of the general population may have a brain aneurysm and never know it, unless the aneurysm ruptures or is incidentally discovered on brain imaging for other reasons.
What is the risk that a brain aneurysm will rupture?
It is difficult to know the risk of rupture for a particular brain aneurysm. The risk can vary from less than 1% to 5% or more per year, depending on the aneurysms size and location. Risk factors include
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- Family history of ruptured aneurysm
What are symptoms of a ruptured brain aneurysm?
- Sudden onset of severe headache (worst headache of your life)
- Nausea and vomiting
- Stiff neck
- Blurry or double vision
- Loss of consciousness
How is a brain aneurysm treated?
There are 2 ways to treat brain aneurysms, with open surgery or from inside the blood vessels through a small skin nick. In both, the goal is to seal off the aneurysm from the rest of the blood vessel.
Surgery for an aneurysm requires opening the skull and placing a metallic clip across the base of the aneurysm in order to separate it from the normal part of the blood vessel. Endovascular treatment, or treatment from inside the blood vessels, is a less invasive technique that has been available since the early 1990’s.
Endovascular treatment usually involves accessing the large artery in the groin via a small skin nick, and tracking a catheter, or small plastic tube, from the groin to the neck artery that leads to the aneurysm. From there, an even small catheter, known as a microcatheter, is navigated into the aneurysm itself using a digital roadmap generated with live x-ray.
From inside the microcatheter, soft platinum coils are passed into the aneurysm, packing it from the inside. This serves to slow down blood flow in the aneurysm, causing it to clot off. This is known as coil embolization and achieves a result similar to surgical clipping.
Some aneurysms require the use of additional devices including balloons, stents or flow diverters. A balloon may be temporarily inflated across the neck of the aneurysm in order to allow the coils to retain the shape of the aneurysm. A stent may be needed to serve as a scaffold in order to keep the coils from falling out of the aneurysm.
Surgery for an aneurysm requires opening the skull and placing a metallic clip across the base of the aneurysm in order to separate it from the normal part of the blood vessel. Endovascular treatment, or treatment from inside the blood vessels, is a less invasive technique that has been available since the early 1990’s.
Endovascular treatment usually involves accessing the large artery in the groin via a small skin nick, and tracking a catheter, or small plastic tube, from the groin to the neck artery that leads to the aneurysm. From there, an even small catheter, known as a microcatheter, is navigated into the aneurysm itself using a digital roadmap generated with live x-ray.
From inside the microcatheter, soft platinum coils are passed into the aneurysm, packing it from the inside. This serves to slow down blood flow in the aneurysm, causing it to clot off. This is known as coil embolization and achieves a result similar to surgical clipping.
Some aneurysms require the use of additional devices including balloons, stents or flow diverters. A balloon may be temporarily inflated across the neck of the aneurysm in order to allow the coils to retain the shape of the aneurysm. A stent may be needed to serve as a scaffold in order to keep the coils from falling out of the aneurysm.
