Most of the time, when patients go to a hospital with a severe headache, they are diagnosed with a migraine, dehydration or tension headaches. However, it can often be a brain aneurysm instead. It can be a catastrophic medical emergency that requires immediate attention, and when a doctor fails to diagnose a brain aneurysm, the consequences can be devastating.
Warning signs of a brain aneurysm
A brain aneurysm is a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel inside the brain. It is also known as a cerebral aneurysm or an intracranial aneurysm. Unruptured aneurysms rarely cause symptoms unless they are large enough to press on nearby nerves. However, when an aneurysm ruptures or begins to leak, the symptoms are severe and need immediate intervention. Frequent symptoms of a brain aneurysm, include:
- “Thunderclap” headache (sudden and severe)
- Nausea or vomiting
- Neck stiffness
- Blurred or double vision
- Loss of consciousness
- Confusion or altered mental state
- Sensitivity to light
- Drooping eyelid or a dilated pupil
- Pain behind or above one eye
A delayed brain aneurysm diagnosis could cost a patient the crucial window for surgical intervention and often lead to permanent brain damage, stroke or severe hemorrhaging. Under Oregon law, emergency medicine providers are held to a standard of care based on what a reasonably careful provider would do under similar circumstances.
If an attending physician or emergency room staff fails to diagnose these warning signs, misdiagnoses the pain as another condition, for example, without performing critical imaging such as a CT scan or MRI, it can cross the boundaries of medical negligence.
What to do if a diagnosis was missed
A missed aneurysm diagnosis can have lasting consequences for the patient and their family. If you or your loved ones suffered because a doctor ignored or misdiagnosed these critical warning signs, speaking with an attorney could help you understand whether the missed diagnosis fell below the standard of care and what options may be available.