One West Michigan patient is alive today, thanks to a cutting-edge surgical procedure used this year for the first time in west Michigan, by brain surgeons with Great Lakes Neurosurgical Associates, operating at Metro Health Hospital.
 
Ronald Courter, a Six Lakes resident who works full-time as a fork lift operator at Federal-Mogul, was treated with an advanced medical technique after developing an aneurysm in the center of his brain. An aneurysm is an abnormal widening or ballooning of a portion of a blood vessel, and aneurysms in the center of the brain are notoriously difficult to treat.
 
Courter went to the hospital with his wife after developing blurred vision and dizziness. Physicians discovered the aneurysm after performing an MRI.
 
"Dr. Figueroa and Dr. Clark saved my life, and I am very grateful," said Courter, who has returned to work with no complications. "So often a brain aneurysm is a death sentence, but they were able to do amazing things to give me my life back."
 
In order to safely treat the aneurysm, neurosurgeons Bryan Figueroa, M.D., and Justin Clark, M.D., used a cutting-edge technique, administering adenosine, a drug used to temporarily stop the patient's heart in order to reduce the flow of blood through the aneurysm, making it safer to clip -- the process used to eliminate the ballooning of the blood vessel -- and preventing additional bleeding or a stroke.
 
The patient's heart was stopped for approximately 20 seconds.
 
"Brain aneurysms are incredibly dangerous, but cutting edge techniques like these can literally make the difference between life and death," said Clark. "We have a fantastic team that is dedicated to helping patients right here in west Michigan, and with new technologies and surgical approaches, they're saving lives."
 
Doctors Figueroa and Clark both received fellowship training in vascular neurosurgery and are the first physicians in west Michigan to perform a procedure of this kind.
 
The physicians are experienced neurosurgeons who use cutting edge treatments to address patients' complex problems in the brain and the spine.
 
Along with four partners, they operate, treat, and see patients at each of the hospitals in Grand Rapids. For more information, please visit www.greatlakesneuro.com.