Hi! I found this wonderful site as I was researching my newly dx condition. On May 3 I thought I was having a stroke. Left side of my face was tingly, intermittent pain in left temple area and some heaviness in my left arm. I went to the ER where they ran an MRI. No stroke but found a concerning blood vessel on left side. Ordered a CT with contrast. That confirmed I have a 6mm fusiform posterior cerebral artery aneurysm on the left side. Still every time that comes out of my mouth I can’t believe it. It’s unruptured so that’s a life saver, literally but it’s not great news. I saw a Neurovascular interventionalist last Tuesday and he was great. He did say this is very rare and the thing that will complicate the treatment even more is the aneurysm is bending. We discussed flow diversion as well as shutting down the vessel or artery all together. He said this is the worst kind of aneurysm to have but the best artery for it to feed off. If they shut it down permanently(I don’t remember the medical term) or if I have a stroke I would lose my peripheral vision in the right eye. Not great but better than the alternative. Sounds like if this ruptures it’s fatal. Im seeing another specialist today to get a second opinion. Whichever doc I go with will order an angiogram and then will figure out best surgery option. I was told I’m not a candidate for the open skull surgery (sorry i don’t remember the medical name) only the vascular interventional surgery. Of course when I was dx I went straight to the internet to research this. It’s a bummer because most aneurysms are saccular and in other locations, so not a ton out there. This is very scary but believe God(not sure if this is ok to mention) wouldn’t have let me find it prior to rupturing if it wasn’t going to be ok. The ER doc said it was “divine intervention “ because none of my symptoms were related/caused by the aneurysm. And they went away the next day. I am a single mom with 3 kids and need to be here for my kids! I have so much to still see with them. I’m fortunate to have a village of women in my life ready and willing to help and support so I feel blessed. Anyone else out there with fusiform in the PCA? Only good outcomes please, I know they’re rare and fatal if they rupture so I don’t want to hear those stories. Thank you in advance:)
Thanks so much for posting! Mentioning God is absolutely ok! It’s when members try to push their beliefs on to others that it breaches the guidelines here. My Neurosurgeon says I’m her miracles of miracles! I say a prayer for her and her team before each angiogram. In fact she and the wonderful NSICU RNs coupled with others from there are in my daily prayers. There is really no medical reason I should still be alive, but yet, here I am. Give credit where credit is due is my personal belief.
We have several members here who’ve ruptured on the table, obviously they survived or they wouldn’t be members…just saying. There are risks to every type of procedure from anesthesia onward. It’s really good if the doctors are honest about the risks. I recall one anesthesiologist that BH saw who discounted the risks and I was on him like white on rice! BH had a TIA that night so no surgery the next day. Divine intervention is what the doctor called it as well.
I can help a little with the terminology, although I have made my own up over the years. The first I used was popped my pipe (rupture) when explaining to someone else what happened. Then when my Neurosurgeon said that she may have to do a craniotomy I called it cracking my skull open. I recall one guy asking how they did that and I said very seriously that since my skull was so hard, she was going to use a 3 lb sledge hammer or maybe just a dremel lol. I’m not a good candidate for that either. So I’ve always had endovascular coiling with different aides ballon and stent.
I’ve looked at a few papers written on fusiform and they seem to agree it’s about 3-13% of cerebral aneurysms. So rare indeed! I also have a rare type of aneurysm called a multilobed. My Neurosurgeon once told me there are many different types under the three categories but the three, fusiform, saccular and pseudosaccular are like umbrellas covering the others in the literature.
When I first come to this group a year after I ruptured, a very wise member, TJ with @ModSupport cautioned me to make sure I was reading current literature, say nothing older than five years as medical science is always learning more each day. Also to recognize the difference between research and articles. Articles are published on what others have learned from research. I think articles are very helpful to see what’s been happening in the field rather than some group just wanting to be published.
My aneurysm was at a bifurcation (split) and I was not a candidate for the flow diverter stent commonly used. I did wait around long enough for a new stent to be developed called a Neuroform Atlas Stent which has greatly increased my quality of life. You might want to ask if that one could be used. Never hurts to ask your surgeon. My Neurosurgeon says it bends rather easily, which is what I needed. There have been multiple improvements to the FD stent since it’s conception at Barrows Institute I believe and it’s used a lot.
When researching, I like to stay with places like NIH, WebMD, I forget the one up in Canada. Don’t discount other countries either. France is really good at research as well as repairs and Japan has more aneurysms than any other country I’ve learned.
Whilst trying to do some research for you, I found this site You searched for Fusiform aneurysms - Surgical Neurology International. I like it because it’s free and some of the others are not. Remember this is not usually something that doctors can report hundreds or thousands of subjects as cerebral aneurysms are rare.
I hope others with fusiforms will tell you their success stories! Give them time as we have members in all the different time zones around the world! I’m exceptionally happy to read about your village of women to help when needed!
Thank you so much for the great info and encouragement. I’m glad you made it through and are able to share your experience and offer help.
I will have to ask my doc about that stent you mentioned. My neuro mentioned a silk vista baby that is used in Europe that is a possibility. I will be having an angio and balloon occlusion on Friday. Extremely nervous as I have to be awake for this. I should know more after Friday as this is how they come up with a plan of attack and map it out. I’ll send an update:)
They like you to be able to follow their directions of holding your breath and release. You will be sedated. With my last angiogram, I was talking too much for some guy and he told me to be quiet whilst the Resident was putting the catheter in my wrist…I can’t do that. I told him that she needed to be able to multi task to be a Neurosurgeon😂. With most of them I’ve fallen asleep but can still follow directions, except not talking, I talk in my sleep😱
You’ll do fine! Please do let us know how it goes. It’s amazing all the different types of stents out there. Maybe the balloon assist will do it’s job and you’ll just have the follow ups. Wouldn’t that be grand! Remember to hydrate starting now so the needles, etc can go in easier, breath out when the RN puts in the IV needle (makes it easier for you both). And then hydrate well for at least a couple of weeks afterward. Your brain needs it and it helps to flush out the dye. Oh and take a nice outing the day before, we always pick a new restaurant or go to one of my favorites. We try to make a fun evening of it so we aren’t focused on the angiogram. It works really well!
I have the same story. They gave me 30 to 45 days to live. And that was nine years ago !!!. Gave me a 50 percent dying on the table, 45 percent of being paralyzed for all my life. 5 percent of living my life with bad headaches. My pain ranges 2 to 5 in any given day. Med’s help me get though the day. Been to six different doctors all agree that I’m a walking time bomb But the best is spending every day with my wife and God giving me more life than I thought I had. Thanks God. I wish you more life and God Bless. ( Hope this story makes you feel better) Richard
@ktempelman I’m just wondering how your procedure went…what did your doctor decide and most importantly how are you doing now that it’s been about a week?