Neurosurgeon uncovers hidden danger of brain aneurysms
September is Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - It can strike anyone, at any time, with no warning.
A brain aneurysm is more common than you might think, and many people have them without ever knowing, until a life-threatening rupture occurs.
In recognition of Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month this September, 13 News is working to educate the public about this often-overlooked condition.
A brain aneurysm is a fragile, balloon-like bulge on an artery wall in your brain. The bulge can slowly grow and get thinner over time.
Dr. Michael Avery, a neurosurgeon at Banner University Medical Center, regularly performs life-saving procedures on patients with the condition.
“Sometimes we don’t know why they develop, but the problem we can run into with aneurysms is when the wall gets too weak that it ruptures and bleeds into the brain,” Avery said.
According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, an estimated 6.8 million Americans are living with an unruptured brain aneurysm. That’s about 1 in 50 people.
“Three percent of people have an aneurysm, but the majority of those people probably will live their whole lives not knowing that they have one,” Avery said.
What’s perhaps most concerning is that an aneurysm usually doesn’t show symptoms until it ruptures, which often happens without warning.
“Those symptoms usually involve a severe, sudden onset of typically the worst headache of your life,” Avery said.
Some people may experience loss of consciousness, difficulty speaking, numbness on one side of the body, seizures, or double vision.
Roughly 30,000 people in the U.S. will suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm each year. About a third of those cases are fatal. Of those who survive, about two-thirds are left with a permanent neurological deficit.
Avery said most people can survive if they make it to the hospital in time.
Traditionally, doctors perform open brain surgery and surgically cut off the blood supply to the aneurysm using a titanium clip.
“But nowadays we also have other minimally invasive options where you basically go through the arteries of either the arm or the leg with some wires and catheters and you can navigate all the way up into the aneurysm and treat it with various devices, be that coils or various stents or other newer types of technologies as well,” Avery explained.
But just because you have a brain aneurysm doesn’t always mean you need treatment.
“In many instances, actually, you can just monitor it, and you don’t ever need treatment,” he said.
In terms of who gets a brain aneurysm, Avery said it is more or less random, though family history can be a factor.
While some risk factors, like uncontrolled high blood pressure and diabetes can increase the chance of an aneurysm rupturing, it is ultimately an unpredictable event.
Even though some of us could be living with a brain aneurysm right now, Avery does not think everyone needs to be screened for it, unless you have risk factors that would suggest the need to.
“This is a very common condition. A lot of people have aneurysms, and the majority of those will live their whole lives without ever needing to have it treated,” he said. “We have to always consider that the risk of treatment is not zero percent, and you have to weigh the risk of treatment with the risk of the aneurysm rupturing in your lifetime.”
Avery said brain aneurysms typically develop at a young age, and they don’t make themselves known until adulthood.
The Brain Aneurysm Foundation said the condition is more common in females, especially post menopause.
Worldwide, about half a million people die of a brain aneurysm each year, and half the victims are younger than 50.
If you smoke, have diabetes, high blood pressure, or have a family history or genetic condition that might put you at risk of having a brain aneurysm, talk with your healthcare provider about possibly getting screened.
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