I was diagnosed with an unruptured ICA aneurysm recently and the Interventionalist initially recommended coiling. I had an angiogram yesterday and it is 6.5mm with a very wide neck. He also found it to be located very close to my ophthalmic artery. He feels that the Pipeline stent will work much better in my case.
I was just wondering if anyone has had complications from this procedure? I’ve read headaches are common from the coiling and was wondering if it is the same for the pipeline stent?
The hospital just posted the angiogram results online and my doctor noted vasospasms in several areas. He had told me that the angiogram was fine except for the aneurysm. I’m a bit confused because vasospasms seem to be a serious condition from what I’ve read on this site.Has anyone else had vasospasms along with an unruptured aneurysm?
My wife had vasospasms along with her ruptured aneurysm, and they took action every day to relieve those. Those were expected in a certain time frame and did disappear after that period. Perhaps there is another kind in a different situation that is not so serious–I’m not a doctor. I would want to have the situation clarified by asking for explanations or seeking another opinion.
I had a Pipeline (PED) in March 2012. Wide necked 23mm in the vertebral/basilar artery. I had to have coils too unfortunately due to size and location. I have had headaches ever since. Less and less as time goes by at least. Symptoms change too. I needed 6 stents telescoped together and later had two more put in to fully breach the gap. Most cases aren’t as extreme as mine and go very smoothly. I was a member on this site before the format changed and there were many members that had the PED and were doing very well with it. Everyone has their own experiences - no two fully alike even with the same procedures.
I had the pipeline flex inserted almost 2 years ago this July for my 7.5 mm PICA aneurysm with a 4.5 mm neck. I was fortunate in that I did not experience any headaches, but they are very common from what I’ve heard from other PED patients. I did have some complications post surgery which included double vision, extensive photophobia – my whole vestibular system was thrown off. I kept falling to the right when standing and sitting and had difficulty walking – – it was like being in the Funhouse and I couldn’t get out. A lot of this was due to the location of my aneurysm which was so close to the brainstem and many cranial nerves that control all of those areas of the body. However, eventually with therapy and time all of that went away. I ended up staying in the hospital three extra days and had to go to rehab for a week before I could go home. Then I had therapy for the next eight months divided into PT, OT, and vision therapy. I did lose my sensitivity to hot and cold and pain on the left side of my body from my ear to my waist, and I developed something called Wallenberg syndrome which has for the most part cleared except for issues with my right eye which many days feels as though there is sand in it and it gets kind of scrunched up–usually when I’m very tired.
For no known reason, I experienced pain and stiffness on my right side of my neck and my right lower back which I still have to this day. I also have a heavy feeling in my right arm and shoulder and for quite some time, I had tingling in my right hand. Another little weird quirk is that for the most part I have lost the ability to sneeze. On the bright side, I did not have to have a clipping which most surgeons wanted to perform which could very well have left me with a feeding tube according to the surgeon that did my PED as well as another surgeon.Any of the procedures can have complications and unforseen issues, but for the most part I’m pretty much back to normal. These little things I can tolerate and these are my new normal. It is important to go to hospital that has a lot of experience with aneurysms and PED placement. I researched extensively to find a surgeon and hospital here in the Northeast. Six months after my surgery, angiogram showed that the aneurysm was completely occluded. I just had my one year MRA following that angiogram and things are still looking good! It is such a relief when you finally get to the other side – – the hard part is all the worrying before, waiting for test results and seeing surgeons, the feeling of disbelief and helplessness and of course the surgery and the rehabilitation and medication after and waiting to see if the procedure worked.But when you finally get through all of that to the other side, it is just such a sense of relief that you can put up with the minor deficits left behind.