July 27, 2000 - Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Saves Life of 2-Year-Old with Life-Threatening Brain Aneurysm
Surgery Never Before Performed on This Type of Aneurysm in a Child This Young
CINCINNATI -- Doctors at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati have performed a life-saving surgery on a 2-year-old with a brain aneurysm. This is believed to be the first time this type of surgery has ever been performed on a child this young with this type of aneurysm.
Background on patient/condition
An MRI scan showed that an aneurysm had developed in the middle of the basilar artery, located at the base of the brain, of 2-year-old Lea Hafer. An aneurysm is a blood-filled dilation of a blood vessel.
Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati neurologist David Franz, M.D., consulted with numerous neurosurgeons who agreed that surgery was very likely to cause severe disability or death due to the location of the aneurysm. However, left untreated, the aneurysm would rupture soon, also causing death. The risks in this case were especially great because Lea was so small and because the basilar artery supplies blood to the parts of the brain that control breathing, swallowing and consciousness.
Procedure
Blaise Jones, M.D., of Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Radiology Department, and Tom Tomsick, M.D., of University Hospital, developed a plan for treating the aneurysm that had been used on adults with this type of aneurysm but never before on a child this young.
Dr. Jones and Dr. Tomsick filled the aneurysm with specially designed coils called GDCs that curl up inside the aneurysm. A blood clot formed around the curled-up coils, which prevented more blood flow into the aneurysm and eliminated the risk of rupture. Other than some deviation to one eye, Lea is the same happy child as before the procedure.
These special coils have been used to treat adult aneurysms for about five years. The procedure is very advanced, and can only be done in a few hospitals in the country. However, aneurysms in children are very uncommon, and usually cannot be treated in this manner. Dr. Jones and Dr. Franz will soon be summarizing the surgery and its success for publication in a medical journal.
Contact Information
Brenda Yablonsky, 513-636-5636
