Ok so this is my second post but I think I was in the wrong forum first time around ! last week I posted about having a strong smoke smell with the worry it was a brain tumour - Friday I had an MRI paid privately ! And results show no tumour but a possible 4mm aneurysm they say it's not clear because it only shows on one image so I need to have an MRA angiogram to check - any advice I've read aneurysms are really common and most people never even know they have them until they are found normally by accident ?
Can anyone give any advice I am 36 with no other health problems etc xx
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Lh2112
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Hello and welcome, I too have an aneurysm on the basilar artery, mine was 10mm, when found, and had to have same investigations MRA and angiogram to see if they could reach it. If it had been on the outside of the brain could be clipped and removed, but mine is deep seated and underneath, making it very difficult to reach, however I did have stents and coils fitted five years ago. My surgeon said there is no knowing which will rupture or not, but 4mm is quite small and they may just monitor for changes, keep in touch, lots of good people who can offer support on here, wish I'd found it when mine was first found, felt very alone, good luck love Alice xx
Thanks Alice my NHS gp has referred me for an assessment following my self referral for pvt MRI although now I don't know if to just pay for the MRA to get results
It states they won't confirm until after this as low signal area is only shown on one image so I'm a bit confused ???
The MRA will confirm it if there's one there, it's a more detailed scan of the blood vessels, it took from finding my aneurysm in the August to surgery in the following April, although if your the person going through this you want answers, on the nhs it's not rushed, and your not told until you go for a follow up there's a lot of waiting which I found quite hard, hope you get sorted keep in touch love Alice xx
Hi Lh. I had a Subarachnoid haemorrhage coiled in 2011. I'd spoken to my GP a couple of months earlier about unpleasant chemical tastes & smells, and said that I'd heard it could indicate a brain tumour/stroke/bleed. She laughed and prescribed nasal drops !
After collapsing one night I was blue-lighted to A&E where an astute junior doctor suspected a bleed and had me transferred to a specialist hospital. An MRI scan verified the bleed.
I'm confused as to why you're considering paying for an MRA. Surely with proof of an aneurism your GP should issue an urgent referral for this scan ? Are you in the UK ?
It won't necessarily be quick - a 4mm aneurysm is generally considered to be small and low risk, so the advice is likely to be to 'wait and watch' as they normally only automatically consider intervention for aneurysms over 7mm - because it is at this point that the odds against problems during treatment (of causing rupture, causing a stroke or other neurological issues) are properly outweighed by the risk of leaving it untreated.
Of course there are other risks - so for example if you are prone to anxiety the impact of living with a 4mm annie may be too much of a strain on your mental health - and they will take this into account when giving you their management recommendations.
Don't expect a quick response even so - my bi-lobed 9mm annie was discovered in Feb 2016, my operation to put in a stent (in the end MRA showed because of its location, size and structure it could not be clipped or coiled) didn't take place until July 2016...my annie was large and potentially unstable - but as far as they could tell it wasn't going pop next week so I had to wait and ride it out. It is elective surgery, after all, and NHS neuro wards are full of people whose injuries were/are almost immediately life-threatening, as you will see should you spend time on one.
As it happens, because of the bilobular form and double artery involvement, my stent only did its stuff to a degree -I continue to have a 4mm opthalmic artery annie post treatment and it is likely to remain. I used to view that possibility with sheer panic and horror. Truth is over time I have come to accept it, and the 'how amazing and precious life is' lens it has offered to my life.
I would advise that you take the time to come to terms with what you have heard and to research and think through your possible options and their implications. It is time- consuming but time worth spent. I prepared my will, end of life care plans, funeral plan, power of attorney and letters for my children ahead of my MRA and treatment because of the known risks (even from a vascular procedure) to my sight, speech centre and from stroke on the table generally) and that was a major task both physically and emotionally. It isn't something to be rushed into....
Yes Mal. I spent one month in ICU then another on a rehab ward, but there isn't time (or presence of mind) to get to know the details of other patients outside a 4 bed ward.
I do know of others with inoperable aneurisms due to AVM or other types if inaccessibility, but didn't realise that unruptured aneurisms are routinely left for monitoring ; thanks for that m'dear. Cat x
Hello again, yes what mal has said is very true, 4mm is quite small, and the neuro team will weigh up the pros and cons, the risks of going in against monitoring. As I said before I waited eight months the first time, it was 9mm, when found and 11mm when operated on. In the eight months I underwent various scans and angiogram to see if they could reach it, it was successfully operated on. Then last year it was found the aneurysm was bulging, my surgeon said I was extremely unlucky, and had doubled in size, more scans and due to go for another angiogram, I like mal organised my funeral details and farewell letters, unfortunately my Annie ruptured, and I had a substantial bleed, requiring emergency surgery, I had been told I would not survive if it ruptured, as it is in the area that deals with breathing and swallowing, so I feel very blessed to be here, it just goes to show even the experts get things wrong, but they are the experts, have confidence in them and be guided by them love Alice xx
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