Hi Everyone,

I'm new here and hoping that I can get some opinions from any of you that have had an unruptured aneurysm.

My mom is 52 yrs old and just found out she has an aneurysm. It is in her anterior communicating artery and is between a 6 and 7. She saw Dr. Barrows at Emory Hospital in Atlanta and he wants to do surgery because he said it will definitely burst in her lifetime. She is having an angiogram done today to get more info on it, but he has said that depending on what they find, it will be up to her to decide what to do with it - clip it or use a coil.

She is leaning towards having them go in and clip it because there is less risk of having another aneurysm come up on the side like in coiling. There is more risk up front, but she's thinking she would rather have it because it's more of a sure thing. The coil is much less risky, since they aren't opening her brain up, but she doesn't want to have to worry that there's going to be a problem with it further down the road and then just have to have the clipping anyway.

She asked me to find a forum to post on to get opinions of others who have gone through this. Did you have one and now regret not having the other instead?

Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

hi there, I have just read your post, welcome to our forum.

How did your Mum get on with the angiogram and has she been advised on the type of surgery that would probably be best for her. Every patient and every aneurysm is different. The treatment options often depend on size and shape.

I was diagnosed with seven yes seven unruptured aneurysms late in 2004, they were found by accident during an MRI scan for something else which fortunately did not also exist. I was told that one of these aneurysms could not be clipped due to its location so it had to be coiled. After that one was coiled I was given the option of either clipping or coiling for another two aneurysms, as i had had a successful outcome to the first procedure I chose coiling again for the next two aneurysms. I still have four tiny ones untreated which are currently being monitored.

In my case the coilings have been completely successful for the three that have been treated, I have had yearly MRA's to check the surgery and also the other untreated annies, and all is well.

Do let me know the outcome of your Mums angiogram.

Pam from England

Just had a clipping on 3 aneurysms. Needless to say I had an 18 (yes...really..not lying. Largest one the neurosurgeon from Mayo had ever seen), a 7 on the 18 (yep, an aneurysm on an aneurysm...see the 18 could get worse), and a 14 behind my ear in the temporal lobe.

So I had a bad case of the aneurysms (lol). Tho the sizes sound terrible, but since they seemed stable other than the fact that I had lost sight and use of my right eye, I had a choice of clip or coil. I chose clipping. I chose it partly because I was worried about that second one. I was worried about how unstable an aneurysm on an aneurysm could be. But mostly, because I didn't want to live with the fear of the coil collapsing over time and it rupturing in two of the worse areas you can have one, let alone 3. In the end I chose right. But only because of an unforseeable occurrence. The 3rd one ruptured just as they started the right side craniotomy.

So in a list, things to think about:
1. Size and progression and stability
2. Your personal feelings of comfort for future.
3. Invasiveness - If a craniotomy is warranted it is serious surgery. Recovery is tough and draining. Time away from work, rehab, and to be honest pain. Tho not as must pain as you would expect. And there will be scars and possible hair shaving, etc. Depending upon where they are, the scars could be visible to some extent. Also, tho a good neurosurgeon can now eliminate alot of the visible incisions with current methods. There are other less invasive procedures they can use to do the clipping but only if the aneurysm is in an area that would permit, and is close to the surface.
4. Other possible scenarios that would impact long-term outcome (ie. my 2nd one that was like a bubble on a balloon...seemed very unsafe to me)

Hoped this help. Also really hope didn't say anything to bother you. I had an extreme case and I want you to take heart from that. I have had great results. But if the answer to questions #1 above for me had been 6-7's and stable, I very likely would have chosen the other option. Things have turned out better than the docs could have conceived for me, but it was not easy and I still have months to go. I would definitely take it ten times over rather than not be here to tell my story.