A 72-year-old woman with a severe headache was treated Monday at University of Texas Medical Branch Clear Lake Hospital for a ruptured aneurysm – a first for the south Harris County hospital.
“This represents a major milestone towards gaining comprehensive stroke center status,” said Dr. Peter Kan, chair of Department of Neurosurgery at UTMB.
Coincidentally, the hospital performed its first basilar stenting on Monday and also treated and admitted its first ruptured arteriovenous malformations (AVM) patient. The hospital is certified as a Primary Stroke Center and working towards Comprehensive Stroke Certification.
This milestone follows other recent advancements in neurosurgery at UTMB. In November, the Clear Lake hospital began 24/7 neurosurgery capability coverage. UTMB began its Department of Neurosurgery in 2020 and named Kan its inaugural chair.
Before the hospital had the 24/7 coverage in neurosurgery, all UTMB patients with ruptured aneurysms had to be sent to either the Galveston campus or to the Texas Medical Center, Kan said.
UTMB is a leader in complex neuroscience care in the region, and Kan continues to build the program, officials said.
UTMB opened the Clear Lake hospital in March 2019. Besides its neuroscience capabilities, the hospital is a designated Trauma Level II Facility and also recently achieved Chest Pain Center Accreditation through the American College of Cardiology following an extensive 12-month review by a multidisciplinary team of staff and providers.
In August 2021, UTMB was awarded with the American Heart Association's Gold Plus Stroke and Target Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
A severe headache, like the one this patient suffered Monday, is the most common presentation of a ruptured brain aneurysm, Kan said.
After she arrived at the hospital, doctors repaired her aneurysm with coil embolization, a minimally invasive endovascular treatment.
“We brought a catheter into the aneurysm to block it off from the circulation with coils,” Kan said on Tuesday. “She did great and is normal this morning.”