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MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: Your heart pumps blood to your brain through blood vessels in your neck. These blood vessels, called arteries, branch into even smaller arteries that bring blood to your brain cells. Some of these small arteries join each other to form a loop known as the Circle of Willis. The walls of the arteries contain special muscle and elastic layers that help them adapt to the blood pulsing through them. Sometimes diseases, injuries, or birth defects can cause a weak spot in the wall of the arteries in the Circle of Willis. These weak spots usually form where arteries branch. Over time, the pressure of blood flowing through the artery stresses the weak spot further. The constant blood pressure can cause the weak spot to balloon out and form a bulge called a cerebral aneurysm. This cerebral aneurysm is the most common type called a saccular or berry aneurysm. Over time, the aneurysm may grow and push on nearby brain tissue or nerves. Blood may also leak from the aneurysm. If its wall gets too thin, the aneurysm can burst or rupture and spill high-pressure blood into the space around your brain. The blood presses on your brain tissue and can cause injury to your brain cells. Chemicals in the escaped blood can irritate other brain arteries and cause them to narrow. As a result, your brain can swell, leading to serious brain injury. Common symptoms of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm include sudden severe headache, sometimes called a thunderclap headache, problems with your vision, such as blurred or double vision, nausea, and vomiting, a stiff or painful neck or confusion. An unruptured cerebral aneurysm may not cause symptoms but large unruptured aneurysms may cause headache and pain near or behind one eye, double or blurred vision, a drooping eyelid, and numbness or weakness on one side of your face. A ruptured cerebral aneurysm is a medical emergency. If you are having symptoms, seek immediate medical attention. If you have a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, your doctor may recommend surgical clipping or endovascular coiling. In surgical clipping, your surgeon will make an opening in your skull near your aneurysm and place a small metal clip onto the stem that connects the aneurysm to your artery. The clip blocks blood flow into your aneurysm. In endovascular coiling, your doctor will put a plastic tube called a catheter into a large artery in your groin. Using a live x-ray view, your doctor will advance the catheter through your arteries until it reaches the aneurysm. Through the catheter, your doctor will insert one or more flexible wires into your aneurysm. The wires will coil up and cause a blood clot to form inside your aneurysm, which will block off the aneurysm from the rest of your artery. In a similar manner, if you have an unruptured cerebral aneurysm, your doctor may recommend surgical clipping or endovascular coiling. In addition, if your aneurysm is small and not causing pain or other symptoms, your doctor may observe your aneurysm for a period of time before performing either of these procedures.
"[Your staff] was extremely efficient, cooperative and gracious and [their]
efforts produced a demonstrative exhibit that we used effectively throughout
our trial. The jury verdict of $3,165,000.00 was, in no small measure, due
to the impact of the demonstrative evidence. You may be sure that we will
call again."
David J. Dean
Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, P.C.
New York, NY
"I have a medical illustration created by Medical Legal Art at the beginning
of every case to tell the client's story, usually before I depose the
defendant doctor. The work product and cost-efficiency are outstanding. It
is a situation where, as a trial lawyer, I don't leave home without it."
Rockne Onstad
Attorney at Law
Austin, TX
"This past year, your company prepared three medical illustrations for our cases; two in which we received six figure awards; one in which we received a substantial seven figure award. I believe in large part, the amounts obtained were due to the vivid illustrations of my clients' injuries and the impact on the finder of fact."
Donald W. Marcari
Marcari Russotto & Spencer, P.C.
Chesapeake, VA
"It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Medical Legal Art. We have
used their services for three years and always found their professionalism,
quality of work, and timely attention to detail to exceed our expectations.
We recently settled two complicated catastrophic injury cases. One medical
malpractice case involving a spinal abscess settled for 3.75 million and the
other involving injuries related to a motor vehicle accident settled for 6.9
million. We consider the artwork provided by MLA to have been invaluable in
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I highly recommend MLA to anyone seeking high quality, detailed medical
legal artwork."
E. Marcus Davis, Esq.
Davis Zipperman, Krischenbaum & Lotito
Atlanta, GA www.emarcusdavis.com
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.