Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
aneurysms. Autopsy studies have shown that approximately 5 per cent of the
general population have or will have intracranial aneurysm (which means
about 10-15 million persons in the US or 400,000 in a small country such as
Sweden). An aneurysm may start to bleed or rupture, but estimations based
on various data suggest that most intracranial aneurysms do not rupture
(Wiebers 1998).
As already mentioned, since the 1920s X-ray technology has included
techniques for injection of contrast agents into blood vessels. These
techniques also make it possible to produce X-ray images of brain vessels
by so-called angiography. But it was not until computer technology at the
beginning of the 1970s revolutionized medical imaging and gave rise to
new imaging methods such as computed tomography (CT), that intracranial
aneurysm could be identifi ed and localized with any precision.
4
Patients' experiences of a dangerous condition
Under certain circumstances (as yet unknown) an arterial aneurysm can
rupture and give rise to an arterial haemorrhage into surrounding tissues.
If an arterial aneurysm is located on one of the intracranial arteries, a
haemorrhage into the brain can be catastrophic with immediate death in
about 20 per cent of the cases (Wiebers 1998). For some this may occur
without any previous warning and shock their loved ones. In one of the
many illness narratives on the studied website written by a relative or friend,
a man tells us about his experiences of such an event in the following way:
My Sister, died on 20 January 1997 at the age of 47 as the result of a
sudden cerebral aneurysm. Her death was unexpected and a great shock
to all of her family and friends. Except for a severe headache that day
no unusual symptoms warned anyone what to expect. Routine for that
Sunday was a quiet dinner out with her husband and long time friends.
While still at the house she complained of sudden nausea. She suddenly
and unexpectedly collapsed. The paramedics were called and arrived
within minutes. Rushed to the hospital a short distance away there was
nothing that could be done.
Accounts of this kind, about how a healthy person in the middle of her or
his life, without any previous warning, is struck by unexpected death, readily
catch our attention in everyday life. On closer consideration perhaps most
of us will remember how this has happened to somebody known to us: a
famous football player, a friend of a friend or perhaps a neighbour. The fact
that even a young person without any foreboding may drop down dead will
often bring these stories far beyond the close circle of relatives and friends
to a wider social world. There, these stories will be added to the collective
memory of dramatic events - but not necessarily attached to its medical label
aneurysm.
