New surgery method through the eyelid can treat brain aneurysms

FOX 2 - A brain aneurysm - the bulge in a brain vessel is described as a berry hanging on a stem - most of the time  it's not serious, but it can be.

If it ruptures, it's life-threatening, but here's the good news,doctors have a new way to get to treat that aneurysm.

Barbara O'Hara enjoys being active but neck pain and migraine headaches stopped her in her tracks.

"That pain was just awful, just excruciating," she said.

Unable to find relief, she was referred to Cleveland Clinic neurosurgeon, Doctor Mauricio Mandel.

"He sent me to have many tests where he found an aneurysm," she said.

Mandel said to think of the brain aneurysm as a bubble in the artery of the brain.

"The problem with an aneurysm is that that bubble can eventually rupture, and if it ruptures, it can cause a stroke," he said.

Barbara needed brain surgery to treat the aneurysm. Traditional surgery calls for a large incision along the hairline, but she qualified for a novel, minimally invasive approach called transorbital. It's surgery through the eyelid.

"Most of the aneurysms that we found in the brain are really close to that area," Dr. Mandel said. "So with a tiny incision over the eye and do the same clipping that is done with open surgery, but in a much less invasive way."

Doctors use 3D imaging to help plan the surgery to ensure safety. Most people go home the following day and recover quickly.

"You would never know I had surgery. There's no scar," Barbara said. "To wake up and have no pain. I was amazed.I can get out in the sun and enjoy my life."

In addition to brain aneurysms, epilepsy and some brain tumors can also be treated through the eyelid. Only a few medical centers in the United States offer transorbital surgery.