Conference turris::womannotes-v5

    My sister, Sue was found to have 5 aneurysms.  Three were
    clipped during two brain surgeries.  The other two were
    coiled.  That is the procedure of snaking up a coil from
    an artery in the groin area up to the brain and heating 
    it.  The heat causes the aneurysm to melt, scar and with
    hope the defect has collapsed and hardened (better than
    what was there before).
    
    On November 21st I had brain surgery for two aneurysms.
    Both were clipped and recovery took eight weeks.  I am
    back to work now with short hair, a big scar, some 
    nerve damage to my left eyebrow, but still healthy.
    
    My identical twin was tested and does NOT have any
    aneurysms!  Two other siblings tested negative.
    
    It's scary, but now it is over.  Every five years we
    need to be retested to see if another weakness has
    developed into an aneurysm.
    
    kare

    Kare, thank God everything worked out so well for you and
    your family!
    
    > It's scary, but now it is over.  Every five years we
    > need to be retested to see if another weakness has
    > developed into an aneurysm.

    My Mother passed away almost 5 years ago from an aneurysm
    near her spinal cord that no one knew she'd had.
    
    Thanks for posting all this info here...!!
    

    This condition runs in my cousin's family (must be from her husband's
    side since no one else I am related to has it).  Her daughter, now
    about 30, has had a number of these sorts of surgery.  She works for
    some national organization for people with this inherited condition - I
    could probably find out who they are if you are interested.  My cousins
    son, late-20-ish or a bit older, was recently diagnosed with the same
    thing as his sister, though evnidently he doesn't have as many of them.
    The son has always been very athletic whereas his sister is rather
    sedentary and somewhat overweight - I don't know if their lifestyles
    are part of the reason she was diagnosed much younger.  So far both are
    healthy, though going through the "spring" surgery as a young teen
    wasn't much fun.
    
    /Charlotte

    How do they screen for aneurysms which are not in the brain?
    My Dad often wondered (after my Mom passed away) what they
    could have done to find out about hers (near her spinal cord).
    

    I think maybe with an MRI...

  Last night's "The New Explorers" on PBS was all about medical
  imaging (using CAT, MRI, and Ultrasound). A fairly big section
  dealt specifically with aneurisms. They demonstrated this "coil-
  ing" fix.

  I'd suspect that the PBS web-site could lead you to more infor-
  mation and, doubtless, a videotape.

  Karen, I'm glad you and your sister are fine.

                                   Atlant

    I was trying to get a feel how often doctors find
    aneurysms and can do something pro-active (before 
    it burst).  My neurosurgeon at Lahey said they
    usually don't find them unless the person has been
    in a car accident and they find them while checking
    for head injuries.  Also, severe headaches can some-
    time be a warning.  My maternal great-uncle woke up
    with a severe headache and died a few minutes later.
    We assume it was an aneurysm rupturing.
    
    First I underwent an MRA/MRI.  You are put into a 
    tunnel shape tube and pictures are taken (non-
    invasive).  These are not known
    for great detail.  They found one aneurysm using this
    technique.  Then I had an arterialgram (sp?) where 
    ionic dye is pumped into an artery near your groin 
    and more detailed pictures are taken.  That's when
    they found the second one.
    
    I can't tell you how many people have told me that
    they have been touched by a ruptured aneurysm in
    their life (family, friend, coworker, etc).  Since
    the surgery in November there have been two episodes
    of a neighbor and a teacher who died in Nashua and
    Chelmsford of rupturing aneurysms.  I feel very lucky.

    Aneurysms are little time bombs ticking away inside your body. Normally
    they are symptomless until they pop. They can be caused by degenerative
    disease, syphilitic infection or may be congenital.

    Congenital ones tend to be in the arteries of the brain. However they
    do also occur in the major arteries around the heart. The size and
    location of the artery largely dictates the eventual outcome.

    Those in the brain are often treatable whilst those in the chest are
    more likely to be instantaneously fatal.

    As they cause no problems ahead of time, and screening the entire
    population would currently be prohibitively expensive, it is one of
    those things where you take your chance. Naturally high blood pressure
    increases the chances of an aneurysm bursting.

    Barbi, our tenant, runs a small company that teaches ballet to school
    kids. Two weeks ago one of her most reliable dancers suddenly popped an
    aneurysm in her head and was rushed to hospital, where she promptly
    popped another. A couple of days ago they thought is safe enough to
    operate and it appears to have been successful.
    
    Jamie.