Brain and Aortic Aneurysm with coronary artery disease

Hi. I had both brain and aortic aneurysms. The brain aneurysm, in my case had vascular access so it was repaired through embolization. I had two stents installed, 3 years apart (2017 and 2020) as the first one wasn’t completely effective. This year I will have an angiogram to see if I can be completely cleared.

I also had a 5.2cm ascending aortic aneurysm which was found in 2019 after an MTB accident. It was repaired through open heart surgery 2 months later as it was very large for my body size.

You should get a genetic test done to see if you have one of the known markers. My cardiologist who is an aortic disease specialist and a geneticist did one and I didn’t show any of the known markers, but since my brother has 3 brain aneurysms and there have been other confirmed cases in my family he suspects we have a yet to identify marker (we were enrolled in a genetic test to see if it could be found).

I was 54 in 2020, when I had OH surgery and the second stent installed, in very good physical shape (exercised all my life) and my surgeries all went as smoothly as they could have gone.

My brother had an emergency craniotomy for one of his aneurysms and the surgery also went well.

My suggestion, find the best neurosurgeon in your area or consider traveling if one is not available. Also a cardiologist who specializes in aortic diseases, not all of them do and it makes a huge difference. Keep yourself healthy, exercise with the limitations aneurysms introduce (avoid any exercise that leads you to hold your breath while exerting, that raises your BP significantly albeit for a few seconds). The most important thing is your BP, need to keep it under control.

You should consider also joining the group in this site that deals with brain aneurysms, you will get answers there too, I’m in both.

With the right care and follow up you will be fine!!!!

Hi. I had both brain and aortic aneurysms. The brain aneurysm, in my case had vascular access so it was repaired through embolization. I had two stents installed, 3 years apart (2017 and 2020) as the first one wasn’t completely effective. This year I will have an angiogram to see if I can be completely cleared.

I also had a 5.2cm ascending aortic aneurysm which was found in 2019 after an MTB accident. It was repaired through open heart surgery 2 months later as it was very large for my body size.

You should get a genetic test done to see if you have one of the known markers. My cardiologist who is an aortic disease specialist and a geneticist did one and I didn’t show any of the known markers, but since my brother has 3 brain aneurysms and there have been other confirmed cases in my family he suspects we have a yet to identify marker (we were enrolled in a genetic test to see if it could be found).

I was 54 in 2020, when I had OH surgery and the second stent installed, in very good physical shape (exercised all my life) and my surgeries all went as smoothly as they could have gone.

My brother had an emergency craniotomy for one of his aneurysms and the surgery also went well.

My suggestion, find the best neurosurgeon in your area or consider traveling if one is not available. Also a cardiologist who specializes in aortic diseases, not all of them do and it makes a huge difference. Keep yourself healthy, exercise with the limitations aneurysms introduce (avoid any exercise that leads you to hold your breath while exerting, that raises your BP significantly albeit for a few seconds). The most important thing is your BP, need to keep it under control.

You should consider also joining the group in this site that deals with brain aneurysms, you will get answers there too, I’m in both.

With the right care and follow up you will be fine!!!!

@houston13 Thank you for the reply. This is helpful. I have a great neurosurgeon who performed the craniotomy on the MCA brain aneurysm. I may need to find a specialist as you suggested for aortic disease. the cardiologist appt is upcoming. Since you dont have any genetic markers, can you pinpoint any other reason why your family is impacted. I know with brain aneurysms there is a genetic link. In my family there doesnt seem to be any history of brain aneurysm, just coronary artery disease as we all seem to have high cholesterol. I really thought I was doing everything right with diet and exercise so all of this surprises me. Thanks again.

@organizedchaos04 , hi, my family doesn't have a "known" marker but may have a yet to be identified one. Aneurysms are vascular diseases and not heart diseases, diet and exercise help prevent other vascular diseases and of course heart diseases, but not necessarily aneurysms. I have been very active all my life, fairly intense work outs, never smoked, eat well, never overweight, marginal high BP developed later in life controlled with medication and exercise, and still developed aneurysms. And in this forum there are threads related to high endurance athletes that also developed aneurysms. So besides genetics, bicuspid aortic valves are also known to make people more vulnerable to aneurysms (my valve is bicuspid so double whammy), life long high BP struggles, there is just not a lot more known as to why they appear. We just have to be glad we found them before they became an emergency.

In my case, my cardiologist, who is a recognized aortic disease expert, sees me every year to monitor my aortic valve and the aneurysm repair and of course my BP, and every 4 years orders full aortic MRAs (3 hours in the machine), groin, abdomen and chest, and he adds neck and head (unless my neurosurgeon has done one recently) to make sure no new aneurysms are appearing on major arteries. That is why I think it is so important to be seen by someone who really understands aneurysms.

In the mean time, the best we can do is to continue staying active, treat our body well, control our BP, and get monitored.

All the best

@houston13 Thank you for sharing your story. While we have learned over the last 25 years that aortal aneurysms are genetic in our family, until this last week, no one has ever discussed a connection between these aneurysms and the sudden loss of one of my brother's sons, age25, from what doctors at the time called an "a brain ambulism." That was 30 years ago. I still haven't been able to talk about this possibility with my brother or his other 2 sons.

@professorkrh I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine how hard this must have been. Do they have any idea what caused this to happen to someone so young?

@houston13 Thank you for the reply. I have a great neurosurgeon who performed my craniotomy and will see the cardiologist in two weeks. It sounds like there is a relationship, maybe vascular issues affecting the arteries and link between the two. I appreciate you sharing your story.

@organizedchaos04 i agree about vascular issues affecting the two. My husband and a maternal first cousin (same ave exactly) both had mid level aortic ascending aneurysm. The cousin who was a weight lifter and heavy exerciser had a dissection. He also now has a descending aortic aneurysm and two abdominal aneurysms.
His dad had an aneurysm rupture - not know where but it was in his thoracic cavity.
My husband’s mother had giant cell arteritis and died from a second hemorrhagic brain stroke.