Ohio State Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones died this week in Cleveland from a brain aneurtsm that ruptured while she was driving. She was taken to the Cleveland Clinic and was unable to recover. She was only 58 years old.
Brain aneurysms are little balloon type 'pockets' that are found in the arteries. Many are in the brain but can also be found around the heart or in the legs or other areas of the body.
It is thought that about 4% of people have aneurysms (based on autopsy statistics) which is pretty staggering. Most people don't even know they have an aneurysm and live with it. Unless it ruptures, they can live to be 100 and die of other causes. Aneurysms themselves are not fatal but if they rupture, they can be - and death can be fast. About 10% of people who have an aneurysm will experience a rupture.
WebMD has a question and answer session with Howard Kirshner, MD, professor and chairman of neurology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville. I thought I'd put it here, to educate us a little more about this mysterious but scary condition -
"What is a brain aneurysm?
"An [unruptured] aneurysm looks kind of like a balloon, an out-pouching of an artery," Kirshner says. "It almost always occurs at a point where the artery branches off."
While Tubbs Jones had a cerebral, or brain aneurysm; aneurysms can also occur in the aorta (the major artery from the heart), the leg, and other areas. Aneurysms are related to weaknesses in the blood vessel wall.
How common is a brain aneurysm?
''We think that many people have them -- up to 4% have it at autopsy," Kirshner says, citing research, but many show no symptoms. According to Kirshner, about 5% of people will develop a brain aneurysm during their lifetime, but only about 10% of them will experience a rupture.
As a crude estimate, he says, perhaps 25,000 to 50,000 people a year in the U.S. have a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm. Family history plays a role, experts believe. Family members of a patient with a brain aneurysm have an increased risk of having one. Yet only a small percentage of these are related to hereditary syndromes associated with aneurysms.
Women are more likely than men to have an aneurysm, and African-Americans have more risk of hemorrhage from an aneurysm than do whites.
What are the symptoms that an aneurysm has ruptured?
Aneurysms often go undetected because they can have no symptoms until they rupture and bleed. When that happens, it can cause a sudden severe headache and sometimes nothing more than that, Kirshner says. "But it is usually not like any other headache you've had. It is very sudden or severe, the worst headache of your life." Other symptoms include severe neck pain, dizziness, nausea, and sensitivity to light.
One-third to nearly half of patients have minor hemorrhages or "warning leaks" that later lead to a severe devastating brain hemorrhage days later.
Sometimes, when an aneurysm ruptures, it can go unnoticed, with the person passing off the headache. But once it ruptures, Kirshner says, it is more likely to re-bleed.
Is there a typical age bracket for aneurysms to rupture?
"They are most common in middle age -- the 40s and 50s are the peak ages," he says. But they can happen at any age. "I've seen them in teenagers. They do occasionally occur in elderly people."
What can someone do to reduce the risk of an aneurysm growing and rupturing?
"Not smoking and treating hypertension prevent aneurysms from growing and rupturing," Kirshner says.
In general, what is the outlook for someone whose brain aneurysm bursts?
The prognosis, Kirshner says, "is very uncertain." A ruptured aneurysm can cause sudden death, he says. In general, "if you are in bad shape right in the beginning, the odds of recovery are much lower." The overall death rate once the aneurysm ruptures is about 40%, he says.
What might be done when the rupture is discovered?
Getting treatment as soon as possible is critical, he says. If it's possible to do surgery, one option is to go in surgically and put a clip across the aneurysm to stop bleeding. "An even more common surgery is to go through the artery and deploy a coil [into the aneurysm, using a tiny catheter] and the coil causes the aneurysm to shut off." The coil causes a clot to form around the sac, sealing off the aneurysm defect."
http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20080821/aneurysms-common-sometimes-dead...
If anyone has anything to add or had their own experience, I'd love to hear it!
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Add a Comment96 Comments
the same thing happened with my sister this month, i dont think there is anything we could have done, but will alwaya wonder. families should be checked bc it is hereditary..
May 18, 2010 - 3:52amThis Comment
Anon,
I'm so sorry about your sister. What a huge loss. Please accept our condolences, and thank you for writing in to tell people to get checked out.
May 19, 2010 - 9:11amThis Comment
how many americans died from aneurysm?
November 17, 2009 - 2:07pmThis Comment
Anon, here are some statistics from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation:
-- An estimated 6 million people in the United States have an unruptured brain aneurysm, or 1 in 50 people
November 18, 2009 - 8:59am-- The annual rate of rupture is approximately 8 per 100,000 people or about 25,000 people
-- About 40% of all people who have a ruptured brain aneurysm will die as a result, or about 10,000 people
-- 4 out of 7 people who recover from a ruptured brain aneurysm will have disabilities
-- Brain aneurysms are most prevalent in people ages 35 - 60, but can occur in children as well
-- Women, more than men, suffer from brain aneurysms at a ratio of 3:2
-- Ruptured brain aneurysms account for 3-5% of all new strokes.
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I had a ruptured brain aneurysm 12 years ago. I was very lucky to have survived it they say. I have also had a injury to my neck and believe that the two injurys have caused learning disabilities. Would my aneurysm have anything to do with ADHA or Learning Disabilities? I had no prior mental issues before the aneurysm.
November 8, 2009 - 6:54amThis Comment
I don't have an answer to your question but you are the first person that I have heard of besides myself that is had an aneurysm a long time ago and is still around. Mine was 11 years ago and I fully recoverd. i cannot find any informartion about followup or staticistcs. I have a titanium clip. Do they wear out? Do they move? Should I get it checked and have an MRI/ anyone have any answers to this?.
July 31, 2010 - 6:56pmThis Comment
It's nice to find others like me. I had a subarachniod hemmorage (brain aneurism) in 1999 and am considered a walking miracle. The doctor at my local hospital couldn't find where the bleeding was coming from and wanted to keep me in the hospital for observation. If a person makes it through the first bleed and the aneurism heals over, the second bleed will most likely kill you. That would have been me. Thank God my family had me taken to UCLA where the doctor looked at the same x-ray, did surgery, put in the titamium clip and 2 weeks later I was home. I am 99% recovered. But even the Head of Brain Trauma at UCLA cannot offer any follow up advice. He just said to contact the surgeon. I am real anxious to get the clip checked but have no insurance right now and can't get it done. There is no particular reason, it just seems like a good idea. However I am not sure why? If a CAT scan shows that the clip has slipped or something, what would I do. Would you have the surgery again? I think I have used up my miracles in this life time. It's not just the aneurism itself that is dangerous, it is the recovery as well, when strokes are common. To this day the surgeon that inserted my intibation tube and damaged my vocal cord, has never been identified. But as far as that goes, we are all only human and what is a paralyzed vocal cord compared to the possibility of not being here to see my girls grow up.
August 28, 2011 - 2:30pmThis Comment
Hi to answer some of your questions. I was lucky enough not to have to have any surgeries. When mine ruptured, it bleed out into my brain and caused me to have a seziure. Three or four days later I woke up in the hospital. I had given birth to my son ten days prior to the aneurysm. When giving birth, that is when the aneurysm ruptured. I have had more MRI's and CT scan throughout the years just to be safe. Nothing has shown up, thank the good lord above! As far as side effects, well they are endless. After 12 years I have finally been diagnosed with having TBI. I have been fighting to get my disibilty for 3+ years. I hope now someone will listen. As far as the clip, I WOULD GET IT CHECKED, just for your on safety and sanity. You are also the only person I have known about other than Sharon Stone. Good luck and may God Bless you in all you do in your life.
September 8, 2010 - 3:34pmThis Comment
URGENT WARNING!!
My sister had a huge anurism 1.8cm in diameter in her cerebellum (small brain) in August 2009, which was “repaired” up through an artery from her groin. She had less than 20% chance of surviving – but THANK GOD she pulled through.
The warning lies in the doctor saying that this is GENETIC – IT IS HEREDITY, AND ALL HER
October 29, 2009 - 10:12pmSIBLINGS NEED TO BE CHECKED…. AS WELL AS HER CHILD!
So please take this warning as VERY serious if your sibling or parent had this - IT MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!!
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I work as a brain injury lawyer and it happens for me to have a lot of lawsuits. Medical care has become very poor nowadays and unfortunately for the doctors, well, us the lawyers are having lots of work to do.
March 4, 2009 - 9:57amThis Comment