Rapid Medical Response Saves Woman from Rare Brain Aneurysm

Thiruvananthapuram: A 45-year-old woman from Mumbai, vacationing in Kerala, was saved from a rare brain aneurysm by the KIMSHEALTH Trivandrum team. After collapsing in her bathroom, she was rushed to the emergency department. A Digital Subtraction Angiography revealed a less than 2mm blister in a main artery to the cerebellum. The swift intervention diagnosed and treated the aneurysm effectively.

"It could have been fatal had she not been rushed to the hospital immediately and aptly diagnosed," said Dr. Santhosh Joseph, Senior Consultant & Clinical Lead, Neuro Interventional Radiology, who led the Endovascular Stenting procedure using flow diverters to induce blood clotting and prevent further blood flow into the aneurysm.

"Due to the severity of her symptoms like severe headache, vomiting, and loss of consciousness—we decided to go for a DSA, despite the MRI and CT Angiography results being normal.. The DSA confirmed a Blister PICA, a rare type of aneurysm near the brainstem and cerebellum, which caused the symptoms.

A blister aneurysm is a serious condition, constituting 0.5% to 3% of all aneurysms, where weak spots in blood vessels bulge into blister-like structures, potentially leading to life-threatening bleeding. In this case, it was located in the PICA ( Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery). Due to the sensitive location, Dr. Santhosh Joseph and his team opted for a minimally invasive procedure involving accessing the aneurysm through a puncture in the groin.

Dr. Manish Kumar Yadav, Senior Consultant, Neuro Interventional Radiology Imaging & Interventional Radiology, Dr. Madhavan Unni, Senior Consultant and Chief Coordinator, Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, and Dr. Sarath Surendran from the Department of Neuro Anesthesia, were part of the procedure.