A Patient with a Subarachnoid Hemorrhaged - Essay Example

This procedure has been partially replaced in recent years by a relatively new procedure, endovascular coiling, which involves inserting a catheter through the femoral artery of a patient into the brain and using this catheter to fill the aneurysm with fine coils made up of the inert metal platinum, or other suitable material to strengthen and remove the affected part of the artery from blood circulation. Endovascular coiling has now become accepted use it is cheaper, less stressful for a patient, and requires a shorter stay in a hospital, with generally lower absolute risks as compared to neurosurgical clipping. However, it is not possible to approach every aneurysm by endovascular coiling and depending on the location of the aneurysm neurosurgical clipping may still be required to be used. This dissertation presents a discussion about the relative advantage of using endovascular coiling as opposed to neurosurgical clipping as a treatment for SAH-related aneurysms.  

Subarachnoid hemorrhage or SAH, is a stroke subtype that occurs a result of the rupture of either an intracranial aneurysm or an aneurysm in the basal cerebral artery which supplies blood to the human brain (Fassbender, 2001, Pp. 534) and (Kissela, 2002, Pp. 1321 – 1325).  The classical presentation of SAH is a sudden and severe headache which is accompanied by vomiting, photophobia an deck stiffness (Whitfield, 2004, Pp. 14 – 16). However, it has been estimated that only one in four patients who suffer from such headaches have had a SAH occurrence and that such headaches can also be the result of vascular—intracranial venous thrombosis, infections including meningitis, encephalitis etc., intracranial tumors, acute hydrocephalus or migraine etc. to name a few other causes (Al – Shahi, 2006, Pp. 235 – 239).   It has been estimated that SAH affects about 10 people in 100,000 in the United Kingdom every year, with a median age of 61. The female preponderance in the United Kingdom has been estimated to be about 64 %. In the United States, about 16,000 to 17,000 persons are affected by SAH annually and the occurrence of SAH has been associated with significant morbidity and mortality.