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Links & Resources
Ursula Bennken has returned to her work as a masseuse in Palm Springs, California, after surgery to repair a brain aneurysm in May. The recovery time for that kind of surgery can take months, but Bennken's recovery was miraculously quick because of a relatively new, experimental procedure that saved her life.
One year ago, Bennken was diagnosed with an aneurysm in the main artery of her brain. An aneurysm is a "pouching out" of a weakened and diseased artery. If left untreated, aneurysms can rupture and bleed into the brain, causing paralysis, stroke or death. Until recently, doctors have treated aneurysms by surgically cutting into the brain and literally 'clipping' the aneurysm shut with a metal clip. The surgery takes hours and the recuperation time is long. The procedure Bennken had is known as "coiling" and is far less invasive.
"Coiling" involves sending a tiny metal coil through the body to the arteries of the brain, similar to angioplasty in which a tiny balloon is sent through the body's vessels to clear clogged heart arteries. The tiny coil fills the aneurysm and causes the blood to clot, thereby forming a new, artificial arterial wall. Studies are now underway to determine if this less invasive procedure is as effective as surgical 'clipping'. Worldwide, 60,000 patients have been treated with the Guglielmi Electrolyctically Detachable (GDC) Coil since it was invented at UCLA ten years ago.
NPR's Patricia Neighmond explains how the coil was created by Dr. Guido Guglielmi, how it was made by technician Ivan Sepetka and how doctors at UCLA today utilize the procedure.
Links & Resources:
UCSF Neuro Interventional Radiology
(a full description of the procedure)
http://www.stroke.ucsf.edu/Pages/aneu3.html#Anchor-Method-14210
UCLA Stroke Center/Neurovascular Program
http://neurology.medsch.ucla.edu/stroke.htm
Boston Scientific Corporation - Target Therapeutics
(manufactures the coil described in the story)
http://www.bsci.com/divisions/target.html
One woman's story
http://www.westga.edu/~wmaples/suzanne.html
The Changing Face of America is an 18-month-long NPR series that tells the stories of regular, everyday Americans and the issues they face at a time of rapid and dramatic change in the U.S. This special series can be heard on NPR's Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered and Morning Edition.
The Changing Face of America series is sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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