Hi folks. I’m new to this and glad I found this site. I was just diagnosed with a fusiform aneurysm on my aca (near the a2-a3 junction). It’s about 3 mm wide along 5+mm of the artery. The first neurosurgeon I saw in my home city took one look at the scan and said he wouldn’t be the one treating it. He seemed to think the artery would be too small for any kind of stent and would require a bypass to fix it. He referred me to Barrow in Phoenix and I’m still just waiting for an appointment date. I guess I have two main question right now.
First of course if anyone else had a similar aneurysm and what their experience was like. There isn’t much that I can find about aneurysms in this location or fusiform types in general.
And second, for folks that had to travel for treatment as it appears I’m going to have to do, how did that whole process go from diagnosis to angiogram (assuming they do this) to treatment? The waiting is not fun. Initially I was under the impression that things could move pretty fast but Barrow is telling us it will likely be months before an angiogram. I don’t know that I’m necessarily in a rush to treat but I just want to know more about what my options are, what the risks are etc. The waiting and uncertainty is awful. I just feel like I’m on hold.
Hey Megan,
That ‘Being on hold’ is not nice at all, but very common. Once a brain condition has been diagnosed it seems that some medicos like to ‘wait and monitor’. I have been in this ‘wait and watch’ stage a few times, but with each it was eventually established that surgery was the safest and best option.
With a fusiform annie, rather than a balloon blowing up on the side of the vessel, it’s more that the vessel walls enlarges on all sides. For some, this enlargement can be a normal part of their anatomy, but for others it can progress. This progression and the rate of progression, if there is any, is what they are wanting to monitor. For some individuals there is minimal progression and that ‘wait and monitor’ can be for years, if any action at all is deemed necessary. For some no action is taken. For others there maybe a rapid change and surgical intervention maybe required. But again it can be very individual.
Just having the knowledge that there is something within the brain is scary as all hell and the waiting only serves to increase that stress. Some medicos comprehend this, whilst others can seem rather dismissive. For the dr’s they deal with patients (Us) on a daily basis but have very little grasp of what it’s actually like to be the one with a condition. Trying to educate them about the stresses involved is a waste of time and energy. As a member of Ben’s Friends on another community use to state “You only know it if you live it”. So come talk to us, we know it because we live it too.
Wanting to know your options is a very legitimate question, but it is one that neither us nor the WWW can actually answer. There are just TOO many variables. You need to have the angiogram, then have a professional neurologist make a confirmed diagnosis and then, if deemed necessary, have neurosurgeon write up a treatment plan. We all just want it fixed BUT that is not the way the medical profession works. I can assure you the one thing you do not want is for them to perform neurosurgery if it is not necessary. They could go in and ‘fix’ the concern but the flow on symptoms from the surgery can be MASSIVE and life changing. As stressful as it may all seem often the wait and watch approach is very much the best idea.
He has excellent bedside manner. Dr. Shah assisted my Neurosurgeon and kept track of me when I ruptured. If I had to find another Neurosurgeon, he would be the one!
While I agree that a more definitive diagnosis and subsequent “action-plan” is good to have, I have to say in my case an angiogram almost took my life. The leg artery started to swell after the procedure (which was highly uncomfortable, and scary as hell), it became a “golf-ball” first and my leg turned black/blue all the way down to my knee. When I called the surgeons office, they told me to get to the ER fast. I did so, and they did an ultra-sound and decided I needed intervention from a “radiologist” fast…(?) He was called STAT, but didn’t show up for two days (weekend) . By the time he got there, my “Pseudo-Aneurysm” had dissolved and the artery had closed itself off (My hand to God in Praise). Had that artery aneurysm “blown” over that two day wait…I wouldn’t be here to tell the story. My point is, if they can diagnose you effectively without the angiogram, (such as with an MRI-MRA) then don’t do it. If they say you really need one, be sure to find out how many procedures the Doc doing it has performed, and if he is Board Certified! You have to be PROACTIVE in your own care, and careful of whom you allow to treat you. J/S
I’ve had quite a number of angiograms and only ended up with one hematoma which put me on a don’t do anything, nor lift anything over 1 pound. I also believe everyone should know the risks and not take an angiogram lightly. We’ve had angiogram discussions before. I thought I would take this from my med chart in part”…discussing the risks and benefits, including but not limited to potential complications such as stroke, hemorrhage, death, vascular injury/occlusion, contrast reaction/toxicity, and other unforeseeable events…”. So yes, there are some risks; however, the benefits far outweigh the risks, for me
Thanks for sharing this. I don’t know if our neurologist-surgeon had done many angiograms or if it was simply a Divine blessing or if my wife was just physically a good candidate, but based on her experience we would say the angiograms seemed rather routine. For us we our glad the angiograms have ended and she just needs an MRA every few years, because she doesn’t have to go back to Denver to do those. Of course, our surgeon would always repeat the list of what could go wrong, but he said none ever had in his experience. We trusted him and God fully and were not disappointed.
That is not good Peg.
But I must say no medical procedure is 100% risk free and as Moltroub states there is often a list of ‘Potential risks’. They are introducing a foreign object into the body, that is inherently risky. Even with an MRI/MRA there are risks, minimal as they maybe. I have had a number of MRI scans both with and without contrast. But on one occasion I had a reaction to the contrast dye. NASTY. I was told it was very rare to have such a reaction, but they do occur nonetheless.
At a local major hospital here we recently had a situation where all of the neuro specialists were on leave at the same time and the patient died as there were no specialist available to conduct a specific procedure. It is my understanding that policies/procedures have now been altered so that this never occurs again. But even then there can be unforeseen complications with any procedure. Even having a board certified practitioner does not negate 100% of the risks.