The Allegheny General Department of Neurosurgery specialists are able to diagnose and treat conditions such as brain aneurysms and hemorrhagic stroke. Brain aneurysms are a weakness in an artery wall or blood vessel that provides blood to the brain. As the artery wall weakens, possibly due to disease, injury, or a birth defect, it begins to bulge and stretch, much like a balloon. The resulting thinned wall can rupture, causing bleeding inside the skull cavity resulting in severe headache and potentially life-threatening increase in pressure.

Patients at increased risk for the development of brain aneurysms may be considered for CT or MRI scanning, which create images of blood flow to the brain and surrounding arteries and blood vessels and are effective tools for identifying the size and location of brain aneurysms. Because brain aneurysms occur more commonly in men than women, every male should get an ultrasound exam beginning around age 60.

The Allegheny General Department of Neurosurgery team of surgeons and Neuroradiology staff provides comprehensive intracranial aneurysm evaluation and treatment. Treatment options in any given patient include conservative observation and surveillance, surgical clipping, and endovascular coiling, Endovascular coiling have become a primary method of treatment for some aneurysms that previously carried high surgical risks.

The pre-treatment evaluation is dependent on the location and size of the aneurysm, as well as the health of the patient. The team has a wealth of diagnostic tools at its disposal, including MR perfusion/diffusion imaging, MR angiography, CT/ CT angiography, PET cerebral blood flow imaging and balloon occlusion testing.