A Neurologist’s Personal Lesson on Brain Aneurysm Screening

Fifteen years ago, my grandmother’s sister suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage—a devastating type of brain stroke. She was 80.
An angiogram revealed 8 large brain aneurysms. The bleeding was severe, and despite all efforts, we could not save her.
A few years later, her daughter—my aunt, living in the USA—developed a sudden severe headache and vomiting while on a treadmill. She was rushed to the emergency room. Where ct scan was done which revealed brain haemorrhage and angiogram showed an aneurysm. Luckily the bleeding was less. She was treated with a pin-hole endovascular procedure called coiling and survived.
Because two members of the same family had brain aneurysms, we decided to screen other relatives. During this screening, one more aunt was found to have a brain aneurysm—before it ruptured.
My team and I treated her using a flow diverter stent. The procedure was minimally invasive, the pin-hole healed within hours, and she went home in two days.
She is alive today because the aneurysm was detected before bleeding occurred.
Since then, I have ensured that all family members undergo an MRI brain scan every 5 years.
MRI has no radiation, and in many cases no contrast is required.
👉 If you have a family history of brain aneurysm, screening can save your life.
Brain haemorrhage is often sudden, catastrophic, and frequently preventable—if detected early.
Awareness. Screening. Prevention.
That is how brain strokes can be stopped before they strike.
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