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The headache led me to see a doctor
“It all started in 2016. I lived a quiet life, trying to do physical activity, like coming home from work instead of taking a walking trolley. At that time, I felt like I often had a headache for no reason, so I went to see my GP, ”says Gintarė.
After examining the young woman, the GP told her to monitor her blood pressure for a month and visit a neurologist. It turned out that Amber’s blood pressure was higher than normal, and after a visit to a neurologist, she received a referral for an MRI, the conclusion of which was clear: there is an aneurysm on the left side of the brain. It is a thinned spot in the wall of a blood vessel that expands under blood pressure and forms a “balloon” with blood circulating inside.
The unheard diagnosis scared the woman. However, he was even more frightened by the treatment offered by the neurosurgeon, who visited him after a visit to the neurologist. He said the brain aneurysm can be treated with an open surgical trepanation, opening the skull and disconnecting the aneurysm from the bloodstream with a special clip.
“The doctor has made it clear that brain aneurysms are dangerous: people often die when they rupture and, if they survive, remain disabled. After all, the offer to behead sounded even worse than the possible consequences, so I decided not have surgery. We do not discuss other treatments with a neurosurgeon, “says Gintarė.
When she returned home, the woman began searching the Internet for information on brain aneurysms and other treatments. Here you read that brain aneurysms up to 7mm in size do not rupture and that these aneurysms simply need to be regularly monitored and evaluated for enlargement.
The woman began taking the medications prescribed to lower her blood pressure, changing them until she finally returned to normal. Then he stopped the medication.
It was expected not to break
After reading on the Internet that a brain aneurysm needs to be monitored, the woman planned to see a neurologist again after three years. Unfortunately, his plans were corrected by the brain aneurysm itself.
“I was at the polyclinic with the child, we talked about the child’s health in the doctor’s office. Suddenly I started to shake my head and began to hear badly. I think I need to get out of the office as soon as possible. I realized that I could no longer walk … I stumbled on the ground and asked the nurse who was here for help. I immediately realized that it was an aneurysm, “recalls Gintarė.
The doctors who were here attacked the woman and measured her blood pressure. The upper limit was 270, the lower limit was 100. As a result of such a sudden jump in blood pressure, the woman lost consciousness for a short time. Former polyclinic doctors “lowered” her blood pressure and immediately took her to the Vilnius Republican University Hospital in Lazdynai.
At the hospital, he underwent a CT scan, which confirmed his diagnosis: a ruptured brain aneurysm.
The following day, the interventional radiologist who visited her explained the situation and said that surgery was necessary.
“I heard about the operation. Won’t it really do a trepanation? How will it go? The doctor answered the question: we will operate through the groin. When he heard this, he removed the fear like a hand,” says Gintarė.
Minimally invasively, a woman had platinum coils inserted through her groin to fill a ruptured aneurysm, a so-called brain aneurysm embolization. After the first operation, the woman spent 5 days in resuscitation and spent a total of approximately 2 weeks in the hospital. 2020 re-examined the ruptured aneurysm and, on the doctor’s recommendation, a stent was inserted into the blood vessel through the groin in a minimally invasive manner, thus completely removing the aneurysm from the bloodstream.
“After the first operation, I recovered physically quite quickly: there were no residual phenomena, I spoke, I walked. Just a month after the operation, she was afraid to leave home alone so that the situation would not happen again. Over time, that fear lessened and I went back to work. After the second operation, I spent three days in the hospital and went back to work after a news bulletin for a few weeks, ”says the woman.
He is now taking anticoagulant medications and will travel to the brain for a prophylactic examination again in half a year. That 2019. the day she was embolized, the woman calls her second birthday.
“Back in 2016. I underestimated the risk of an aneurysm – after all, nearly half of people die after a rupture, while others remain disabled. Only when I was in resuscitation did I realize there is no turning back and that the whole situation, that the aneurysm ruptured in the polyclinic and not in any trolley bus that I survived after the rupture, is a gift from God.
In my day, I would have liked to know all the possible treatment alternatives and assess the potential risks more responsibly. I knew I had an aneurysm, but I was afraid to do something. I was hoping it wouldn’t break, everyone expects it. Therefore, for those who hear such a diagnosis, I offer to consult with many specialists and choose the most appropriate treatment method, so as not to abandon the aneurysm ”, says Gintarė.
Usually it does not reveal any symptoms about itself.
Audrius Širvinskas, Head of the Department of Interventional Radiology at Lazdynai Republican University Hospital, says this case of a woman is an exceptional success story.
“Usually, brain aneurysms have no noticeable symptoms and a person can live for many years without even suspecting that there is a potential bombardment in his brain. In Lithuania, 1 in 20 people have a brain aneurysm and most are unaware of it. A Aneurysm in the brain is detected by magnetic resonance imaging.
If a brain aneurysm is found during this exam, the patient should see a doctor in two areas: a neurosurgeon and an interventional radiologist. Only after receiving all the necessary information about open brain surgery (aneurysm trimming) and a less invasive brain aneurysm embolization procedure can the person choose the most appropriate treatment method.
In this story, the patient may also have been misled by online information about the size of the aneurysms that rupture most frequently. Although he found information that aneurysms up to 7 mm do not usually rupture, our practice shows that very often ruptured aneurysms are about 5 mm in diameter and are even smaller.
Therefore, the risk of aneurysm rupture should not be assessed on the basis of a single criterion: several other factors contribute to it, from the characteristics of blood pressure to genetic diseases, sex, brain hemorrhages in relatives, form of aneurysm, location in the brain, etc. After hearing the diagnosis, it is always necessary to consult an interventional radiologist and neurosurgeon about your specific case, ”emphasizes Dr. Audrius Širvinskas.
Learn more about possible risk factors and assess your own risk of having a brain aneurysm at www.smegenuaneurizma.lt
