Aneurysms form when pressure of the blood flow through an artery causes a weakened arterial wall to balloon out. Although aneurysms can occur in almost any artery in the body, one of the most common sites is in the brain. These are called intracranial aneurysms. What makes aneurysms dangerous is the fact that they can rupture, causing fatal and/or severe brain damage due to hemorrhagic stroke.

Embolization of brain aneurysms

Embolization of brain aneurysms is a minimally-invasive procedure, because it repairs the aneurysm from inside the artery, rather than from the outside.

Brain aneurysms can be effectively treated – and even healed – with a minimally-invasive procedure using specially-coated coils. The new drug-coated Matrix® coils promote healing of the aneurysm. (Older-style bare platinum coils -- which are also effective -- simply fill the aneurysm so that it clots off, preventing blood pressure from rupturing it.)

Matrix coils are coated with a suture material which promotes scar tissue. Baptist East has a bi-plane angiography suite in surgery, so the aneurysm can be diagnosed – and treated – in the same room. 

The procedure begins with a tiny incision in the thigh where the surgeon inserts a micro catheter into the patient's femoral artery. Interoperative fluoroscopy helps the doctor guide the micro catheter through the arteries and to the aneurysm in the brain. At that point, a tiny platinum coil is pushed through the catheter and stuffed into the aneurysm. Using a very low voltage electrical current, the coil is detached. Once in place, the coil fills the aneurysm so blood can no longer circulate through it, reducing the likelihood of a rupture and hemorrhagic stroke.

Conventional surgery for repairing brain aneurysms requires cutting open the skull, locating the aneurysm and clipping it off so blood can no longer flow through it. The risk of permanent brain damage is always present, and in some patients, the location of the aneurysm or the patient's physical condition as a whole can make conventional surgery impossible.

Aneuryms are more common than you might think. According to the National Stroke Association, 18 million Americans have aneurysms in their brains. If they rupture, half of those victims will die and another quarter will be permanently disabled.

For more information about minimally-invasive procedures to repair aneurysms in the brain, call the Baptist Hospital East Information Center at (502) 897-8131.

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