3mm Unruptured cerbral aneurysm

Mocrie14

Because there is a history in the family, I went for a check up and unfortunatly they found a 3mm unruptured cerebral aneurysm. It cannot be colied due to its shape and therefore it would have to be clipped which involves cutting my head open slightly. Risks of procedure are as follows: 2.5% that I will die, 2.5% that I will suffer stroke-like symptoms. I would be in hospital for approx 7-10 days and off work for approx 6 weeks. If I don't have the procedure there is a 2-3% chance of the aneurysm bursting in any given year. If it did burst, there is a 50% chance of death.

Anyone had this done before? All advice/comments appreciated!


Thanks.

GreeBo

Sorry to hear about it, but based on the figures you supply, you are better off having the op now.
The chances of something going wrong in the op are the same as something going wrong in later years, but without the dying part...

Good luck.

hedgetrimmer

Wow...sorry to hear that news, but I fully agree with redoxan. Based on the info received, the operation sounds like a logical way to proceed. If you are uncertain, seek a second opinion.

What are the other risks of a burst aneurysm? Even if you "get lucky" is there a chance of a stroke or something? I know nothing about this, and wish you the best in it. Sorry I cannot help more directly

fitz

Family member of a friend of mine went through several of these proceedures in the last year, some quite aggressive, and came through it.

It's not worth the risk to leave, have the op.

eth0_

I know it's easy for me to say, but have the op. The chances of it going wrong are very slim. Are you having it done in the Neuro centre in the Beaumont?

Mocrie14

Yea - having it done in Beaumont. Mr Pidgeon is the surgeon...

isolde

Really sorry to hear that Bazbu. Like the others said though, I reckon you should have the operation. Chances of something going wrong are so low. Beaumont is a fantastic hospital. My dad had a huge operation on his brain there several years ago.. I can't remember the exact percentages now but they basically told us he would either die or have a stroke as a result of the operation because he was so so sick. But he somehow pulled through and has recovered pretty much completely. The surgeons there are absolutely amazing, have absolute faith in them, they'll do their utmost best for you.

All the best to you..

~ isolde.

Nala

Sounds like it might be best to have the op Bazbu.

Memnoch

at the end of the day you have to weigh out the risks for yourself.

would you be happy knowing that there is a ticking time bomb that can go off at any time?

hopefully the op goes well, atleast you will have peace, and not have to worry about something like this.

its a major life decision though and you have my deepest sympathies.

i hope that whatever decision you make, things turn out the best for you

RicardoSmith

Cousin had it done, had no problems relating to it anyway. They had problems with fits which may be caused by something else. They didn't entirely diminish after the surgery. That was a few years back. Dunno if they eventually went away after time. Haven't been in touch with them for a while. But as far as I remember they only discovered this after my cousin had reported having really bad headaches, blackouts and seizures. Which the surgery has fixed. They reckoned that the aneurysm had tiny bleeds up to that point. Apparently anyone can have these and not have any problems. But if they are going to give problems they show up in your 20-30's.

BrianD3

There's always a risk of death with any major surgery. Even getting your appendix removed carries some risk of death. So I wouldn't be *too* alarmed at the 2.5% risk of dying and 2.5% risk of stroke.

Yes it is a major op. But look at it this way - if the doctors thought that there was an excessive risk of death from having the operation, would they be allowing you to make a decision on whether to have the op or not? Answer: No.

BrianD3

GuanYin

Originally posted by Bazbu
Yea - having it done in Beaumont. Mr Pidgeon is the surgeon...

You're in very very good hands, Chris Pidgeon is a well renowned and fantastic neuroscientist and surgeon.

Furp

I'd go and get the op done, do you have any more info, i.e.. what caused you to investigate this do you have problems with seizures or headaches or anything else.

How did you go about investigating this and what procedures did you have done, CAT scan, MRI Scan.

The reason I ask is that my grandmother died of a brain haemorrhage 30+ years ago and then two years ago my own mother who was only 51 died of a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage.

At the time my family and I spoke to a top neurologist at one of Dublin's largest hospitals, and we were told that it was coincidence and that this type of rupture is very rare and not hereditary, however I am worried that I have a similar fate yet when I asked about getting it investigated I was told that it was not possible.!

Anyway another story is what happened to my mother but I do not really want to change the topic of the thread, to cut the long story short is, she had very bad headaches for two weeks, then collapsed had a seizure went unconscious, taken to hospital, sent home and told it was just stress 10 hours later had a second seizure brought to hospital again, after 3-4 hours was told that it didn't look good but had to wait for CAT scan department to open before they could check, in the meantime she had a few more seizures never regained consciousness spent two days on life support, and the cat showed that she had a massive sub-arrachnoid brain haemorrhage.

Anyway I think you should have the op and good luck.

Mocrie14

A couple of my Aunts and one of my cousins died of haemorrages. Then last year my Dad had one (whilst he was driving the car!!!) but somehow he survived and was back at 100% with six weeks. 50% of people who have haemorrages die instantly. Of the other 50%, half are left disabled.

I decided to get checked out and contacted my Dads surgeon - Christopher Pidgeon. He told me that most people are born with their aneurysms - it is most unlikely that you will develope one during your life if you are healthy. He also said that based on my family history he reckined there was a 15-20% chance that I could have one. Unfortunately for me, I did. I have two sisters and one brother. One of the sisters has two aneurysms and the other two have not yet got checked out. He suggested an angiogram - painless procedure where they put dye into your head and take x-rays.

If I were you, I would get checked out ASAP. Ring Pidgeons office in Beaumont Private Clinic and make an appointment. He will then make another appointment for an angiogram - probably about 5/6 weeks later. You will be in hospital for a full day and would need to take two days off work. In order to insert the dye into your head, they make a TINY insertion into your groin so as to access an artery. This is completely painless but you cannot walk for 24hrs in order to let the wound heal.

There is however no point in getting checked out unless you are prepared to act upon what they find (or hopefully don't find!). That said I'm still not sure what to do!


Bazbu.

isolde

Hey Bazbu,

Strangely enough my dad's haemorrhage occurred when he was driving too. His memory is still really bad though.
Had you been having headaches prior to getting checked out or did you simply decide to check it out on the basis of your dad and other family history?

~isolde.

Mocrie14

No symptoms whatsoever. I think it would be easier to convince myself to have the op if there was some symptoms. I'm not ill and have never been ill in my life apart from a bout of pnemonia once.

tony 2 tone

Originally posted by Bazbu
Yea - having it done in Beaumont. Mr Pidgeon is the surgeon...

He's a good surgeon, I had a blood vessel burst in the head in 1990, quite scary, but the op went well and i'm grand now.
Can't remember what the name of what happened to me was but it would be along the lines of aneurysm/stroke.