An aneurysm is a weak area in the wall of a blood vessel that causes the blood vessel to bulge or balloon out. It can leak blood and cause a stroke or bleeding along the surface of the brain (also called a subarachnoid hemorrhage).

See also: Aneurysm in the brain

Your doctor will decide the best way to perform surgery on your aneurysm. Endovascular repair, most often using a "coil" or coiling, is a less invasive way to treat some aneurysms.

During endovascular repair of an aneurysm, your surgeon blocks off the aneurysm before it can break open (ruptures).

• It is usually done in the radiology section of the hospital. You will have general anesthesia and a breathing tube.
• A catheter is guided through a small cut in your groin to an artery and then to the small blood vessels in your brain where the aneurysm is. Thin metal wires are put into the aneurysm. They then coil up into a mesh ball. Blood clots that form around this coil prevent the aneurysm from breaking open and bleeding.
• During and right after this procedure, you may be given a blood thinner called heparin.

If an aneurysm in the brain ruptures, it is an emergency and needs medical treatment, and often surgery. Endovascular repair is more often used when this happens.

A person may have an aneurysm but not any symptoms. This kind of aneurysm may have been noticed when an MRI of your brain was done for another reason.

• Your doctor will help you decide whether it is safer to have surgery on the aneurysm or not.
• Clipping is the more common way to repair an aneurysm. This is done during an open craniotomy. See also: Brain surgery (craniotomy)