Stephanie wrote this…
Did you catch the new HawthoRNe episode last night? My childhood crush Malcolm Jamal Warner was rushed into the emergency department. A scan showed he had an aneurysm that doctors feared would burst and kill him. Doctors debated which approach would be best for him; the traditional crainiotomy or a coiling method. “A crainiotomy is too invasive,” one doctor stated. While the other protested that the coiling method was too risky a chance to take to get at the aneurysm. The entire time, I am yelling at the television, “Go up through the nose!”
That’s exactly what Dr. Anand Germanwala, a UNC neurosurgeon did with one of his patients. She wasn’t just any patient. She was a young woman who is the sole provider for herself and her small children. While having breakfast one October morning, she experienced an excruciating headache. She blacked out and was rushed to the emergency department. Before she knew it, she was being told that she had two brain aneurysms, one of which burst.
Of course each brain aneurysm is different, so how it is treated is different. In Alfreda Cordero’s case, there were options. But the option that Dr. Germanwala presented was an unusal one for clipping off a ruptured brain aneursym. It was an endoscopic endonasal approach. Essentially that means Germanwala would go up through Cordero’s nose and into her nasal passages to access the brain. Once there, he and his team would locate the aneurysms, clip them and then retreat. Traditional surgical clipping or a crainiotomy would have required Cordero to have the top portion of her skull removed. Cordero gave Germanwala the thumbs up to do the endonasal method, making her the first ever reported case for treating a ruptured brain aneurysm in this way. You can see more about the story here.
Nearly eight months out of surgery, Cordero is doing well. She can hardly believe she had an aneurysm, let alone believe she may have helped make history within the field of neurosurgery.
As for Malcolm Jamal Warner, I’ll probably see him next week on CSI dusting for fingerprints in a mindboggling mystery.
3 Comments
July 2, 2009 at 9:21 am
Excellent article. I know my son will do something remarkable. I wish all the success to Anand and your staff. My best wishes to Cordero and her family.
October 6, 2009 at 4:49 am
It’s really amazing. This process of treating brain aneurysms seems more convenient because the surgical method is invasive and more risky. A great work indeed, kudos to Anand Germanwala.
October 12, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Many thanks for the encouragement. Dr. Germanwala and his team are doing amazing work. They are determined to take neurosurgery to its next level. I would definitely say that this process is simply another tool in their toolbox of ways of treating patients. I believe that even Dr. Germanwala would agree, this particular method is not for everyone. Thanks again, Steph