Jan 3, 2008 11:13 pm US/Central
Lucky Lady Survives 13 Brain Aneurysms
(WCCO)
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At one time, there were 13 aneurysms hiding in the arteries of Ladd's brain. The largest looked like a water balloon on the verge of bursting.
CBS
More than one in 20 of people are likely to suffer a brain aneurysm in our lifetime. That's a bulging, weak spot in the wall of an artery. One Twin Cities woman could be considered a walking miracle for surviving more than a dozen aneurysms.
"To be able to do these kind of things, that's what I love doing and I can still do them," said Barbara Ladd as she works on a pillow doing needle point. Ladd is in awe of life's little gifts because life gave her an enormous gift: A full recovery.
At one time, there were 13 aneurysms hiding in the arteries of Ladd's brain. The largest looked like a water balloon on the verge of bursting. They were discovered only after blood seeping from an artery caused stroke-like symptoms.
"I was very sick. I've never been that sick before. And felt really odd and kept going in and out of consciousness for a while," said Ladd.
Because roughly 50 percent of patients die when a brain aneurysm ruptures, everyone of these bulging weak spots was a potential time bomb that had to be defused.
"Injury to any one of these arteries could potentially be devastating and could result in Barbara having a major stroke, and actually not wake up or even dying," said Neurosurgeon Dr. Eric Nussbaum.
Nussbaum opened Ladd's skull to repair the aneurysms that needed to be sealed off with tiny metal clips.
"Again, you can see the clip which has pinched off the aneurysm. You can see the main artery and two branches and everything looks fine," pointed out Nussbaum.
Preserving every blood vessel possible is essential for avoid paralysis or worse, and no brain tissue was ever cut. Nussbaum accessed every artery he needed to, even one deep in the center of the brain, by gently parting its natural folds or cleavage planes.
In two other procedures, Ladd's fate rested in the hands of Interventional Radiologist Mike Madison. He did his work through a catheter threaded up through a leg artery, navigating the network of brain arteries by watching X-ray images of a flouroscope.
The hardware he used were tiny coils of metal wire.
"So that'll coil up inside the aneurysm," Madison demonstrates. "It fills it up with metal so if the blood can't get into the aneurysm, blood can't get out of the aneurysm."
Over a period of a couple months scar tissue forms to make the repairs even more secure. When all is done, 13 lucky repairs show up on an X-ray of her skull.
HealthEast treated about 350 aneurysms last year and Nussbaum said their team approach of a microsurgeon and an interventional radiologist really sends patients out of this room with the best chance of a total recovery.
After Ladd's surgery, she was able to watch some of the videotape of her procedure.
"That is just amazing!" she said. "My biggest fear, quite frankly, is that I wouldn't be myself when it was all done. I feel so lucky to be here."
Nussbaum said dividing the repairs into three procedures over three months time keeps their plan of attack manageable, and keeps brain swelling to a minimum.
And thanks to the skilled doctors, Ladd is looking forward to celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary with a Caribbean cruise.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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