What Are the Treatments for a Ruptured Brain Aneurysm?

A ruptured brain aneurysm is a life-threatening condition that must be treated promptly. If you have a known brain aneurysm, you should be educated on your treatment options and have a plan in place in case of rupture.

Types

• There are two ways to treat a ruptured brain aneurysm: endovascular coiling and surgical clipping.

Surgical Clipping

• Surgical clipping is where a craniotomy is performed, opening a small hole in the skull, and a small metal clip is placed where the aneurysm and blood vessel meet, to stop blood from coming out.

Endovascular Coiling

• Endovascular coiling is where fluoroscopic imaging is used to visualize the patient's blood vessels. A catheter is then inserted into the patient's femoral artery and snaked through the body's arteries until it reaches the aneurysm. Once it is there, small platinum coils are inserted into the catheter and pushed into the aneurysm to fill it up until the blood flow is blocked.

ISAT

• The International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial is the only study that has compared these two treatment options using randomized clinical trial at multiple locations, instead of relying on historical data or one-location studies.

Significance

• During the ISAT, it was found that the risk of death or severe disability was reduced by over 20 percent when using the endovascular coiling treatment method as opposed to the surgical clipping treatment method.