Neurosurgeons from Long Island, New York, have been trying to treat a dangerous brain aneurysm. The wide-necked bifurcated aneurysm is often big and challenging and sometimes impossible to treat.

Characteristics of a wide-necked bifurcated aneurysm 

Experts define aneurysms as weaknesses in blood vessels. A typical aneurysm has a dome and a neck. When people have an aneurysm, these blood vessels fill up with good becoming bigger. Bifurcated aneurysms are often worse as they occur where blood vessels branch into two.

These blood vessels can also be trifurcated, thus affecting blood vessels at three branches. In addition, the blood flow pressure at this site can cause it to balloon and even burst.

Many patients with this type of aneurysm require open brain surgery. However, some neurosurgeons forgo this entirely as the risk of the surgery outweighs the treatment.

The team from New York conducted a procedure to treat the aneurysm using a small device that is still under investigation. The surgeons used an invasive procedure to implant the device permanently.

Researchers in the U.S are still trying to carry out trials on the device. Only 13 patients in the country have had the device implanted in them.

According to Stony Brook Medicine’s director of Cerebrovascular and Stroke Center, Dr. David Fiorella, this device was made specifically to treat wide-necked bifurcated aneurysms, often complex and hard to treat.

The team implanted the devices in various patients

The team at Stony Brook hopes that the U.S Food and Drug Administration approves the device. They believe that it could become the standard for treating this aneurysm.

Fiorella first recruited Catherine Sears into the clinical trials. The sixty-year-old woman didn’t know she had a wide-necked bifurcated aneurysm as she had no symptoms. Since she has hypertension, a risk factor for an aneurysm, her physician conducted a CTA scan that revealed the aneurysm. After Sears had the surgery, the aneurysm was no longer a danger.

Many of the trial participants, primarily women, successfully implanted the device in their brains. In addition, they do not have any adverse effects.

The trials had more women than men as they were more likely to develop aneurysms. However, the reason for this is unclear.