Aneurysms
A cerebral aneurysm — a bulge in the wall of a brain artery — can be life-threatening if it ruptures and bleeding occurs in the brain. A ruptured aneurysm can cause a stroke. If your aneurysm requires treatment, our aneurysm experts provide comprehensive care, from diagnosis through treatment and recovery, using microsurgical and endovascular techniques. There are now a number of state-of-the-art, minimally invasive options available for the treatment of aneurysms that can dramatically reduce symptoms and the risk of rupture, while requiring only a pea-sized incision in the groin, instead of invasive neurosurgery through the skull. This approach avoids the longer recovery time, pain, and scarring that patients may experience after conventional surgery to treat a large brain aneurysm.
Comprehensive Aneurysm Care
Aneurysm treatments available at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital include:
- Clipping. Our neurosurgeons place a tiny metal clip at the base of your aneurysm to cut off its blood supply. This treatment can prevent it from growing or rupturing.
- Endovascular coiling or embolization. With this minimally invasive approach, we fill the aneurysm with tiny platinum coils or a "super glue" to help it heal and to reduce the chance of it rupturing.
- Pipeline stent. In our high-tech "biplane angiography" suite, we use real-time three-dimensional imaging of your blood vessels to insert a catheter through a small incision in the leg and thread it into the brain to the precise spot where the aneurysm is located. The stent, which is made of a tightly-woven, flexible mesh, is then placed through the catheter next to the aneurysm. It blocks blood flow into it, while also creating a passage through which blood can safely travel to the rest of the brain. Eliminating blood flow to the aneurysm dramatically reduces symptoms and the risk of rupture.
- Adjunctive endovascular device placement for aneurysms (includes PulseRider® LVIS and ATLAS). Our endovascular surgeons employ novel devices for patients with aneurysms that are wide and located near the branching of a blood vessel. The implants are used with endovascular coils to block blood flow to the aneurysm.
Early Aneurysm Rehabilitation
We integrate rehabilitation as early as possible into the care of our patients who need it, using state-of-the-art treatments to restore vital functions, such as speech, which can sometimes become impaired by a brain aneurysm.
The Brain Aneurysm Awareness Group
Survivors of cerebral aneurysms can gather at a support group every two months at our hospital—the only one of its kind in Brooklyn—to discuss their recovery and challenges. People with aneurysms that do not yet require treatment and who are being monitored may also find this meeting to be very helpful, offering a place to talk about any anxiety or other concerns they may have. Our staff members provide a place for you to share your thoughts and also educate you about advances in aneurysm care. For more information, call 718-246-8610.