Detachable Coils Defeat Brain Aneurysms with Skill and Ingenuity
04/01/2011
Brain aneurysms are usually symptom-free while they are developing, but are devastating when they finally make their presence known.
One in every 15 people develops brain aneurysms during their lifetime, according to the American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (ASITN).
As many as 3 percent of those aneurysms rupture, resulting in a total of more than 30,000 people who are affected in the United States each year.
The Division of Interventional Neuroradiology
at UCLA participated in the invention of a non-surgical option using a detachable coil (GDC).
Since the GDC's approval for commercial sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1995, coils have been used on more than 500,000 patients worldwide.
