 is one of our patients, this is Mr. Arthur Casano, who is going to speak with us today about a neurovascular accident that he had in the New York City area and the role that imaging played in helping diagnose and treat him and leading to his recovery. It's great to have you, Mr. Casano. Good afternoon. When I was first asked to speak at this symposium, I had some reservation about doing so. I had already spoken to a couple other events and I was unsure if I could come up with something new that I hadn't said already, so I had asked my wife and children to help out. After all, they too shared my experience. They told me that there isn't anything to change, that your story is what it is. It's a survivor story and here is why imaging is so important. My name is Arthur Casano, I'm from New York and I'm a ruptured brain aneurysm survivor. About five years ago, while on vacation with my wife and three children in the mountains of Virginia, I suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage and a basilar artery in my brain. Just before bed one evening, I had the worst headache of my life. Within minutes, I was vomiting uncontrollably, had lost the use of my right arm and leg and had blurry vision. I also lost my memory for a short time as well. It shook my world and it changed my life forever. I was taken to a hospital about half an hour north of where I was vacationing, only to be diagnosed but unable to be treated. They did not have the advanced imaging techniques and neuroradiology department needed to save my life. They had to airlift me to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville where a neurosurgeon and a neuroradiologist took me into their care. I then received innovative imaging and treatment which not only saved my life but also prevented me from having any neurological defects. Using the coiling method, neuroradiologists reached the aneurysm in my brain by navigating a micro catheter through the femoral artery in my right leg. Then they inserted platinum coils through the catheter and blocked the flow of blood to the ruptured artery. The procedure is called coil embolization of coiling. In contrast to surgery, coiling does not require the need for a skier direct invasive surgery. Instead, physicians used real-time x-ray technology called fluoroscopic imaging to visualize my vascular system and treat the rupture from inside the vessel. No brain surgery or craniotomy was necessary. Sophisticated imaging, they used on me, can also be used to diagnose and monitor existing unruptured adenuisms as well as post-procedure follow-ups and treatment. If it were not for the imaging techniques, expertise and innovation offered at UVA, I would have died or would have suffered from multiple disabilities. This would have ultimately affected the lives of my wife, children, family and friends. As it was once said, there is never a dress rehearsal for this. It is always the real thing. And this was the real thing. I am so grateful that NIBIB has given me the opportunity to give voice to this important initiative. I can't help thinking what might have been. I might have been totally dependent on our healthcare system living with moderates and severe disabilities. This taxes our country and healthcare systems. It is so important that we continue to research and develop these sophisticated imaging techniques and procedures to prevent and treat brain aneurysms. As a U.S. citizen and a voter, I am depending on you to continue to allocate funding for research and development for the imaging used for brain injuries. Only a survivor knows what it means to survive. And one day that might be you. After all, one in 50 people have a brain aneurysm. They don't even know it. An estimated 6 million people have an unruptured aneurysm. 40% of rupture will die. 4 out of 7 who survive will have multiple disabilities. Thank God I'm not one of those statistics. I am you and I'm your mother, your father, your child and your friend. And I am representing the 6 million people in this country who already have a brain aneurysm and don't even know it. What kind of imagery do you want if you are someone you love with me? I want you to look at me and listen to me. I am an alive and a productive member of society. All because I was given the right kind of care by the right kind of professionals using the right kind of techniques and imaging. In closing, I just wanted to say this is the brain that often daydreams at meetings. This is the brain that doesn't remember all of high school math. This is the brain that sometimes forgets his wife's birthday. And it's also the brain that will never forget the neuroradiologists that use the sophisticated imaging to save his life. Thank you.