Sometimes having a choice makes all the difference in the world. At Loma Linda University Medical Center, a new procedure is being offered that gives aneurysm patients just that—a choice.

For the past 30 years, surgery has been the only option for treating bleeding brain aneurysms. A brain aneurysm is a small bubble that forms on the wall of an artery that carries blood to the brain. The aneurysm has a thin wall which can easily break and cause bleeding into the brain. In surgery, these aneurysms in the brain are corrected by a tiny metal clip placed across the neck of the aneurysm to stop blood flow. This requires removing part of the skull, because the clip is placed from outside the blood vessel.

The newcomer to the scene is endovascular coiling. This method treats the aneurysm from inside the blood vessel.

“This represents a great advance in treating cerebral aneurysms,” says George Luh, M.D., director of Interventional Neuroradiology at LLUMC. “What it really means is that prior to this, you didn’t have a choice of how to treat aneurysms. Now there is a choice.”

Offered since September at LLUMC, this technique is a minimally invasive procedure that uses a microcatheter and very thin platinum coils. The microcatheter is a tiny, flexible tube that is navigated through the blood vessels of the body starting from the groin all the way up to the brain. Once inside the aneurysm, soft platinum coils are placed through the microcatheter into the aneurysm. These coils plug it up, preventing further bleeding.

Patricia Rycraft of Ontario, Calif., found out that acting in time is essential. Patricia was already in her last term of pregnancy with her daughter, Alexandra, when she got “the mother of all migraines.” It was so severe her husband, John, decided to take her to the local hospital.

Patricia was transferred to Loma Linda University Medical Center immediately, the closest medical center equipped to properly treat the suspected aneurysm. Tests and a CAT scan confirmed a small aneurysm sac in her brain.

“The pain was very hard,” remembers Patricia. She and John met with Walter Johnson, M.D., a neurosurgeon at LLUMC, and Dr. Luh.

“They gave us the run down on what could happen if they did surgery and what could happen with the coiling,” says John. “We decided the coiling technique was a better option all around that wouldn’t affect the baby. “But it was a scary thing.”

On Sept. 10, Dr. Luh performed the endovascular coiling technique, filling Patricia’s aneurysm with the tiny platinum coils. She recovered from the general anesthesia and went on pain medication for two days. And the week before Christmas she delivered her healthy baby daughter. “We’re starting to get back into the swing of things,” says John. “Our view of life has a lot more depth now. We don’t take things for granted anymore.”

Patricia will check up with Dr. Luh every six months for the next two years. She was one of the first nine patients able to take advantage of the new technique at LLUMC.

Long-term follow-up will be essential to assessing the durability of this new coiling technique. But at least now patients have the choice.