Giant Basilar-Artery Aneurysm: The Silent Brainstem Threat Behind Progressive Neurologic Decline
Giant Basilar-Artery Aneurysm: A Rare but Life-Threatening Neurovascular Emergency A 47-year-old woman arrives at the emergency department with a three-month history of worsening occipital headache, progressive confusion, and personality changes. Initially, the symptoms seem nonspecific. Stress? Migraine? Early psychiatric disease? However, neuroimaging reveals a far more dangerous diagnosis: a giant basilar-artery aneurysm compressing the brainstem and causing obstructive hydrocephalus. This case highlights one of the most critical entities in medical imaging , MRI diagnosis , CT scan diagnosis , and radiology interpretation . Giant basilar aneurysms are rare, but they can rapidly become catastrophic if missed. Because they arise in the posterior circulation supplying the brainstem, even a small delay in diagnosis can result in coma, locked-in syndrome, subarachnoid hemorrhage, or death. For radiologists, neurologists, emergency physicians, and general clinicians alike, recogni...