Aneurysms: Super-glue-like fluid gives new hope
An aneurysm is a blood vessel that stretches and sometimes bursts. For about 25,000 Americans every year, a ruptured aneurysm leads to severe disability, or even death, according to The Brain Aneurysm Foundation. But there's a new treatment, a kind of super-glue for the body, that is now saving lives, CBS News Correspondent Don Teague reported on "The Early Show."
He said that, for nearly three decades, Amy Bechtold has served her country as a colonel and judge in the Air Force JAG Corps. Bechtold, chief regional judge of the Air Force Trial Judiciary, said, "We all raise our right hand to support and defend the Constitution, as a trial judge, I'm doing that very directly."
With tours in places that included Bosnia and Afghanistan, she's seen her share of danger, but a tiny brain aneurysm is what nearly cost Bechtold her life. Bechtold said she knew exactly what aneurisms were because her father had an aortic aneurism years ago. Bechtold heard ringing in her ears. A doctor's visit revealed an aneurysm tucked behind her optic nerve. She was told she needed surgery immediately. Maj. Christopher Koebbe, M.D., Bechtold's neurosurgeon, explained an aneurysm is a blister or a bulge - a weakness along the wall of an artery.
He said, "The danger of an aneurysm is that it could rupture, causing a massive brain hemorrhage. If that were to happen, there would be a 50 to 60 percent chance that a patient would die or be disabled from that hemorrhage." Ten years ago, Koebbe would have attacked brain aneurysms through invasive open surgery with large incisions in the skull. But new technology has been a game-changer. Read More
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