SHREVEPORT, La. — Willis Knighton Health said it has become the first healthcare organization in Louisiana to treat an intracranial aneurysm using the WEB Aneurysm Embolization System with same-day discharge.
The procedure was performed by Ashish Sonig, director of the Willis Knighton Neurovascular Institute, at Willis Knighton Heart & Vascular Institute at Willis Knighton North.
The patient, a 62-year-old woman, presented with blurred vision and headache and had a family history of aneurysms, placing her at elevated risk. Diagnostic testing identified an intracranial aneurysm at the right internal carotid artery bifurcation. She underwent the minimally invasive procedure, recovered without complications and was discharged home the same day.
“Minimally invasive treatment of aneurysms is now the standard of care, although some aneurysms will still need open brain surgery,” Sonig said. “Same day discharge for procedures using WEB Aneurysm Embolization System will be decided on a case-by-case basis.”
The WEB Aneurysm Embolization System is designed as an intrasaccular device that sits inside the aneurysm, allowing physicians to avoid double antiplatelet therapy in certain cases. That approach may enable same-day discharge depending on patient condition and clinical factors.
The procedure involves inserting a catheter through the groin or wrist and guiding it to the brain, where a self-expanding mesh implant is deployed into the aneurysm sac to disrupt blood flow.
A brain aneurysm develops when a weakened section of an artery wall in the brain bulges outward and fills with blood. If the aneurysm ruptures, it can cause life-threatening bleeding and hemorrhagic stroke requiring emergency treatment.
An estimated 6.8 million people in the United States have an unruptured brain aneurysm, most of which do not cause symptoms or require treatment. About 30,000 people in the U.S. experience a ruptured brain aneurysm each year.