Last January (2023) I had a large aneurysm coiled and did all of the requisite imaging - MRA and angiogram. Recently, I had a CT scan of my head and they found “a 50-70% diameter stenosis in the P1 segment of the left posterior cerebral artery.” This did not show in my previous studies. What the actual f? Has anyone ever heard of stenosis developing this quickly? Is there any connection to the aneurysm? BTW, I have no risk factors - I am 52, low blood pressure, good weight, very active, non-smoker, no other diseases aside from EDS, Osteoporosis, and BRCA which do not appear to be risk factors. I have an appt on Tuesday but am having trouble getting my head around this one.
Thank you in advance for sharing any thoughts, knowledge, or similar experiences.
While the use of a blood thinner is pretty much common practice for the post op pharmaceutical treatment of endovascular surgery, my Interventional NeuroRadiologist informed me that the inclusion of a statin, to prevent intracranial stenosis, is not as common. He happens to belong to the school of specialists who believe in the benefits of including a statin prescript to augment the blood thinner one as a prophylactic therapeutic to stenosis. Best of luck with your Tuesday appointment.
Interesting. It makes me wonder if there is a connection. I had a full body CT to rule out other aneurysms and they noted that there is no plaque buildup anywhere else, so it seems strange that I am dealing with this in my brain.
When you say that you had a CT done of your head, I will assume that it was a CT angiography and not just a conventional CT. The tests for intracranial stenosis generally consist of CT angiography (CTA), MR angiography (MRA), Catheter-based angiography, Transcranial doppler ultrasound, and Positron emission tomography (PET). Best of luck this Tuesday. You are welcome to share how it went with your co-survivors here.
It was a conventional CT. Is it possible that the results are blown out of proportion? They found my first aneurysm through conventional CT but the angiogram showed it to be much larger and unstable. I am praying that this time will be the opposite and my stenosis will be much milder.
Thank you for your thoughts! I will keep you posted.
Interesting and I don’t know the answer. When Dr. Q-W goes in on my angiograms, she notes no significant stenosis each and every time. Peter mentions statins, I cannot take them due to the adverse reactions I have, prior to rupturing my cardiologist and PCP tried them all on me. My current Cardiologist said I didn’t need one, there was no reason for it. The first Cardiologist put me on metoprolol, for SVT, I went off it when I ruptured but the second cardiologist wanted me back on it. I don’t do well on that either and quit AMA, cold turkey which I don’t recommend. But since I quit I’ve done much better. Unfortunately someone at my local hospital noted that I was on it for high BP and I can’t get it off my medical record. Before the Triple H therapy, I only had high BP when I developed gangrene in a third degree burn.
It was a faulty reading of the scan!! My neurosurgeon said that I have very small arteries and the seemed to be a problem with the contrast that led the dr. to the wrong conclusion. She is confident that there is no problem, but I do have to get an mra to confirm. Whew.