Aneurysm after giving birth?

[bbrown1]

Hello all! Recently my cousin gave birth to a baby girl who weighed 8 lbs. Baby and mom came home and were doing fine. Mom gave birth to baby on Tuesday and on Sunday night got admitted to the hospital for an aneurysm. Doctors have drilled a hole and as of right now she is in a semicomatose state. They have also called the family in and said it will be around five days before they know anything. Can anyone tell me why this might have happened? Why is it going to take five days before they will know whether she will live or not? Any explanations or info will be apprecitated!

Thanks

[Jolie, BSN]

I am terribly sorry for your cousin's state of health and will pray for her and your entire family.

I don't know of any connection between childbirth and aneurysm, other than the possibility that she may have had an asymptommatic and undiagnosed abnormality in her brain that was made worse by the circumstances of her pregnancy and delivery, such as possibly increased intracranial pressure with pushing, and the shift in fluid volume and balance that occurs at delivery and in the first few days post-partum.

I imagine that she is now heavily sedated in order to protect her brain by minimizing its need for oxygen and nutrients. When the doctors and nurses are able to wean her from sedation, they will have a better understanding of the amount of damage her brain may have sustained.

Please accept my very best wishes for your family and keep us posted.

[MikeyJ, RN]

I did a quick search on a few health sites regarding pregnancy and aneurysm links. Most of them said that many doctors believe that pregnancy can lead to the rupture of a pre-existing aneurysm but does not aid in the formation of one.

Here is an exact quote: Pregnancy, labor, and delivery also seem to increase the possibility that an aneurysm might rupture, but not all doctors agree.

Here is the link of the article: http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/cerebral_aneurysm.jsp

[bbrown1]

Thanks for all your replies and concerns. I have now heared that she has been taken into surgery to relieve some pressure. So it is kinda like a waiting game. Thanks for all your concern.

bbrown

[labcat01, BSN, RN]

Just out of curiosity was it a lady partsl birth or cesarean?

I hope that your cousin has a speedy and full recovery.

[CaliRN29]

I work in a NeuroSurgery ICU and we just had a patient who had the exact same thing happen! It is very unfortunate timing! However, I am not sure if the labor had anything to do with the Aneurysm rupture. I have had patients who sneezed hard and had it rupture so anything can set it off. As for the question - why are they waiting 5 days - typically the most critical time is the first 72 hours. As for the hole in her head - is there a drain coming out of that hole. Typically with aneurysm rupture, the blood enters the subarachnoid space and causes the CSF not to circulate properly causing increased swelling in the head. By inserting the drain, we can drain off the excess that the brain is not able to handle. Since the event happened on Sunday they should know a little more starting Wednesday. If her coma state is not medically induced they may be discussion of how much treatment and how aggressive the family wants to me. Typically with younger patients the outlook is more positive than with older patients so they might not even bring that up. If the coma is medically induced then one of the previous posts explains very well why that is needed. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me. Also, with this type of injury the physicians at our hospital keep patients a minimum of 14 days because of the risk of the blood vessels in the head going into spasm. This typically occurs between days 4-14 after the initial injury. Take care of yourself and your family and I am hoping for the best outcome!