Member News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 20, 2006
Lake Forest Hospital Introduces Newer, Less-Invasive Brain Aneurysm Treatment to Lake County
Lake County’s first-ever endovascular treatment (coil occlusion) of a brain aneurysm was performed at Lake Forest Hospital Dec. 14 by Dr. Joseph Introcaso, an interventional neuroradiologist who joined the hospital’s medical staff in early 2006. This newer, minimally invasive alternative to the more traditional open surgical method gives patients with aneurysms suitable for this procedure better outcomes with shorter recovery times.
While coiling is not an option for all patients, Introcaso says the data from the landmark International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) study demonstrated that, in cases where both endovascular treatment and open surgery were options, coiling resulted in clearly better outcomes. In addition, the recovery period is much shorter – about two days in the hospital as opposed to approximately five days following the surgical treatment, for patients with unruptured aneurysms. “Technological advances in endovascular devices since completion of the ISAT study have significantly increased the number of cases suitable for endovascular treatment and have improved long-term results,” says Introcaso.
Endovascular (meaning within the blood vessel) treatment uses the natural access pathway to the brain through the bloodstream via arteries to treat brain aneurysms. A tiny microcatheter, about a
half a millimeter in diameter, is guided through the arteries supplying the brain and advanced into the aneurysm. Platinum microcoils are then carefully advanced into the aneurysm, slowing blood flow within the aneurysm until a blood clot forms inside the aneurysm. The patient’s own repair mechanisms then convert this blood clot into scar tissue to seal off the aneurysm.
Endovascular treatment of aneurysms is a relatively new option, making its clinical debut in the early 1990s. Dr. Guido Guglielmi, an Italian doctor, and several other researchers, were the visionaries behind the GDC (Guglielmi Detachable Coils) system, or coiling procedure.
Lake Forest Hospital currently is the only hospital in Lake County to offer this option. Introcaso has performed nearly 300 brain aneurysm coiling procedures since 1993. He began performing these procedures while serving as the Chief of Clinical Neuroradiology at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland before the technique was approved for use in the United States. He then returned to Northwestern University in Chicago and started performing the coil procedures there after FDA approval in the United States.
A brain aneurysm is a weak out-pouching of the wall of a brain artery very much like a thin balloon or weak spot on an inner tube. Aneurysms form silently from wear and tear on the arteries and sometimes can form from injury, infection or due to an inherited tendency. They tend to occur where arteries branch. About 2 million people in the United States have brain aneurysms – some 30,000 of which rupture and bleed every year. Doctors are now better able to detect unruptured brain aneurysms utilizing non-invasive techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) and then decide whether or not they need to be treated.
Lake Forest Hospital (LFH) has been named the #1 Consumer Choice hospital in Lake and Kenosha counties for 2006/07 by the independent firm National Research Corporation. LFH has earned this honor two years in a row for having the best doctors, best nurses, best image & reputation and best overall quality.
Lake Forest Hospital is a fully licensed and accredited 215-bed community hospital offering a complete range of services that are staffed by 625 physicians, with offices conveniently located throughout Lake County. For information about the hospital, call 847.234.5600; for a physician referral call 847.535.6171.