I had a rupture and coiling about 4 months ago near my brain stem. Now my doctor wants to send a camera up there to look at it. Has anyone had this done and are there side affects? I’m having enough to cope with and don’t want to add more! Is it dangerous?
Hi Gigi, I assume your surgeon wants you to have a brain angiogram which I have had done. If so, the procedure is similar to aneurysm coiling as they put a tiny camera on a wire in your main artery in your groin & push it gently up to the brain to each aneurysm & when they reach it, they inject iodine from wire & the scanner on the outside takes photographs, this enables them to get really good 3D images of each aneurysm which is clearer than any other test. After the angiogram you will be required to lie flat for around 6 hours at the hospital to stop the artery bleeding as they don’t stitch it as it stops on its own and I managed to eat a nice lunch lying flat, lol & then you can go home the same day. I was awake during mine & had 24 images taken over 2 hours of my 4 aneurysms, one of which is a large coiled one near the brain stem. Most hospitals sedate you for this procedure but it was not as fearful as I expected. Good luck & I’m sure your angiogram will be fine.
Hey Gigi! Susannah couldn’t have described it better! I have had a weighted bag put on my femoral artery to help stop blood flow. I have had several, one every six months since rupture and a second coiling. I think the total count was six or seven.
When the coiled aneurysm shows it’s healed, my surgeon now just uses the MRI and MRA. I’m 27 months from initial rupture. The only issue I have is the anesthesia seems to slow me down for awhile, but then I’m fine. I learned it helps to get hydrated before the procedure and to stay hydrated well after the procedure. They put an IV in your arm or hand to control the anesthesia. Being hydrated makes the needles go in much easier. Hydration helps flush the contrast dye out. They used a non iodine dye last time and I had a reaction but not as bad as I do with iodine.
Someone talks to me while my surgeon goes in. She talks as well. She uses left for the check ups and the right leg for any coiling. Afterwards, I lay flat, sleep mostly. They want you to eat, urinate and walk before you go home to make sure everything’s working. Pop me in a wheelchair after I have done everything I’m supposed to and I sleep in my own bed that night. With the second coiling, I had to spend one night and then went home.
Risk factors are there but it’s much better and safer than the doctor having to put the coiling tube in the catheter I think. Best thing would be to ask your doctor. I had issues with my aneurysm and if it wouldn’t take the coiling she would have cracked my skull open and done what she needed to do. Everything is working for me.
Gigi...
No, I have not had a camera slipped up inside...(at least of records) do you know the name of the camera and/or the procedure?
I am really curious about it...to research and talk w/a specific doctor... I am expecting a call from him tomorrow for other reasons...but I could ask that, too...
Yes, I am aware of the little camera inserts tho not with angios / brain...you are the first to have mentioned it related to our cerebral status and angios..
Wishing you the best...as Susannah has described...
Hi Gigi, I like many others here , have had angiograms/arteriograms prior to and post surgery. However, I am not aware of a camera being attached. In regular angiograms, the catheter is inserted up through the femoral artery in the groin all the way up to the carotid artery. From that point, the dye is injected up into the brain and pictures are taken via CT scan. My biggest concern with this procedure, since I've had it 3 times now, is the dose of radiation that CAT scans generate. Do you know the specific name of the test with the camera? Or could the surgeon have meant angiogram--sometimes referred to as arteriogram?
The word I was trying to remember that they use to help guide the catheter is fluoroscope. However, this is done from outside of the body--like an x-ray.
And yet one easy to understand explanation of angiogram - no camera, images are used. Boy, I learn a lot from all of you! This group has helped me tremendously, I thank each of you for helping me to keep my brain working!
Good videos Moltroub! The more I think of it Gigi, your Dr. is most likely referring to an angiogram which is pretty much the method he used to place your coils. Most surgeons like to do follow-up angios 6 months post-op. Yours may just want to do it a little earlier--I know mine was ready to do it earlier, but I said I didn't want to make the trip up to NYC during the holiday craziness! So I scheduled mine closer to the 6 month mark. It seemed with mine, there was more time spent in preparation for the test than the procedure itself. And then, of course, the time to lie flat on you back for 4-6 hr. after. That wasn't bad in itself, but I found holding my bladder the entire time the biggest challenge!!! The groin area can be a little sore afterwards for several days. I did develop a hematoma after my first one, which was painful. Then, MRA's are usually used at the one year mark after the angiogram.
Thanks Patty! The machine doesn’t look so big to me, but I’m on the gurney and don’t have the same perspective. And I guess because everything is being shown on a screen, I thought camera, but it’s the imaging process whip is way too cool! I also thought angiogram simply because a cardiologist referred to a heart angiogram as a heart catheter.
Gigi, I not sure we addressed the risks. But for me, the need outweighed the risk, and I trust Dr. Quintero-Wolfe explicitly. There are so many things the doctor needs to see and the angiogram is the best way. For me the biggest risk by far is the contrast dye simply because I’m allergic to one and have a strong sensitivity to the other. However, my doctor’s staff calls in the prescriptions I need to be able to keep walking away from the hospital. When they are satisfied, like Patty shared, they start using the MR route. I’m on those now and have worked down to seeing Dr. Q-W yearly.
You might also want to ask if the catheterization is the same as the cerebral angiogram. Just to make sure we are on the same page.
Talk to your doctor about your risks. They will know more about the type of anesthesia being administered and how you did with the coiling. My thinking is I survived all those hours being coiled and those days in ICU giving everyone around me stress issues, I can survive any angiogram.
I just learned the other week I can actually email my doctor and her PA any questions. My Triage Nurse taught me right over the phone. So either give the nurse a call or find out if you can email the questions. Jennifer, my nurse, shared it’s easier for the Doctor to have questions emailed so they can answer them when they get the time. Also if the PA can answer, she’ll do it. I ask odd questions so I guess Lindsey didn’t want to take a swing at them LOL