On the night of January 27 (the 6th of the Lunar New Year), a 35-year-old man suddenly felt a severe headache in the nape of his neck, his limbs were weak, his body was sweating, and he had to go to the emergency room.
According to information from Hung Vuong General Hospital (Phu Tho), the results of a CT scan of the brain showed that the patient had brain hemorrhage due to rupture of cerebral aneurysm. This result surprised his whole family because he had never shown any signs of the disease before.
On the same day, doctors also received 2 more cases of the same disease. Among them, one male patient had more severe symptoms. According to the doctors, these people all have high blood pressure but do not monitor them regularly. They had never had such a headache.
All 3 patients received emergency intervention by specialists from the Center for Radiology, Bach Mai Hospital and doctors from the Radiology Department of Hung Vuong General Hospital, completely occluding the aneurysm.
On the morning of January 28, one case was on a ventilator, alone and the other two were stable and were monitored for resuscitation treatment at the Emergency Department.
Severe headache – sign of ruptured brain aneurysm
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dong Van He, Deputy Director of Viet Duc Hospital, brain aneurysm Cerebral vascular malformation is very common with an incidence of 3-5% of the population. The disease is more common in women than in men, the most common age is 40-60.
Most people carrying cerebral aneurysms have no clinical signs, but the disease is very dangerous if the aneurysm ruptures or compresses surrounding tissues.
When an aneurysm ruptures, blood flows into the brain, the patient manifests as a severe headache (unprecedented pain), vomiting, nausea, paralysis, lethargy and coma if bleeding heavily. Meanwhile, if a large brain aneurysm does not rupture, it can compress it, causing headaches, drooping eyelids, blurred vision or blindness.
Although the disease is common, not all patients are diagnosed. Most cases of small brain aneurysms are diagnosed incidentally during brain imaging. At the Neurosurgery Center of Viet Duc Hospital, almost every week, doctors see patients with aneurysms and vascular malformations. Besides, not all cases of carrying this aneurysm need intervention.
When diagnosing a patient with an unruptured brain aneurysm, the doctor will evaluate many factors to make recommendations and advice on treatment.
How to treat and follow up with people with unruptured cerebral aneurysms?
Unruptured cerebral aneurysms are treated with surgical clamping or embolization, with similar success rates.
Without treatment, patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms will be examined every 6 months for the first few years; Periodic examination every 12 months in the following years. Depending on the size and morphology of the aneurysm, the doctor will have an appropriate treatment.
During the period of regular follow-up, the patient should not smoke, avoid high blood pressure or treat blood pressure, control blood pressure, treat high blood fat, avoid alcohol, and do not take birth control pills.