Brain Aneurysm

A brain aneurysm is a bulging weakness in the blood vessel within your brain. Brain scans often shows a brain aneurysm with an appearance similar to a berry dangling off a stem.

Most aneurysms don’t rupture, and there may be no need for treatment. In many cases, an aneurysm is detected without you knowing about it before. Like getting medical imaging of your head for the work up of a different condition.

In some cases, however, an aneurysm will rupture, which is a life-threatening event that requires immediate medical attention.

Knowing what to look for helps you determine when to seek emergency medical care for yourself or others. These symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm include (and usually occur in some combination):

• Worst headache of life
• Stiff neck
• Coma
• Vision problems
• Drooping eyelid
• Loss of consciousness

These symptoms should prompt an immediate call to 911 for emergency services.

Several tools can help diagnose a brain aneurysm. Computerized tomography, or a CT scan, can look for signs of bleeding in the brain. Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, can provide imaging of the arteries in your brain.

TCSI also offers cerebral angiography, a diagnostic tool that creates 3D imaging of your brain using specialized computer software. It’s possible to combine cerebral angiography with CT scans or MRI to create a clear and accurate image of the blood flow in and around your brain.

Your team at TCSI offers multiple treatments for a brain aneurysm. This all depends on the size, location, and shape of your aneurysm. Everyone’s brain aneurysm is unique so the way we treat yours will depend on many factors. Today, roughly 70-85% of brain aneurysms are treated through the arteries of your brain (endovascular treatment), and not through open brain surgery.