About Brain Aneurysms
By Tom Quirk

April 14, 2000 was the day that our family began to learn about the catastrophic implications of a ruptured brain aneurysm. An ambulance and then helicopter ride, an MGH surgery, rehabilitation therapy, and 275 days later my wife, Karen, returned home to Scituate. This experience has led me to become a brain aneurysm advocate.

A brain aneurysm is a bulging spot on the wall of a brain artery like a weak spot on an inner tube. They form silently from wear and tear on the arteries, from injury, infection, inherited tendency, smoking, alcohol, and the use of oral contraceptives. Warning signs precede some 40% of major ruptures, with the classic symptom being “the worst headache of your life”; others include; headache, blurred vision, neck pain, nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light, loss of sensation, and lethargy. There is no effective means of preventing their occurrence.

It is estimated that some 2 million people in the U.S. have unruptured aneurysms, and every ruptured aneurysm was once unruptured. The annual prevalence of a ruptured brain aneurysm is 30,000 and the routine prognosis is less than encouraging, as 50% die outright.

Of the surviving 50%, one-third recover with some deficit, one-third recover with substantial deficit, and the final third may require lifelong institutionalization. For comparison the deaths per year from breast cancer are 41,000, prostate cancer 32,000, and from aneurysms (cerebral, abdominal, and thoracic) 32,000.

After the crisis stage, there are often months of speech-cognitive, occupational, and physical therapy; and this is a difficult time for the family. Next month’s column will more fully cover the post procedure experience and the value of support groups in the recovery process.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For more information you may contact Tom Quirk at (781) 545-2300, extension 628 or via email at tfquirk@aol.com. For more detailed information about brain aneurysms, please visit the Brain Aneurysm Foundation’s web site at www.bafound.org.

The South Shore Brain Aneurysm Support Group meetings are held the second Wednesday of every month, from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. at St. Mary's Parish Center, 2 Edward Foster Road, Scituate.