A congenital aneurysm of the basilar artery which in 1991 caused her aleft-sided hemiparesis: this is the serious condition from which the actress Cinzia Leone she left after thirty years of rehabilitation treatment. Guest of very truerecounted his very harsh experience, from which he escaped thanks to his mother: «It was she who saved my life that distant day in ’91: I was hesitant but she urged me to go to the cinema to attend the premiere of a film I had shot, Women with Skirts. He told me to do my job, that I couldn’t stay at home. And that was my salvation: not being alone when I was sick.”
Immediately after the illness, which occurred in a cinema crowded with people, it was Francesco Nuti, the director, “who accompanied me to the hospital in his car, without even waiting for the ambulance”. The actress was saved, but her aneurysm required surgery. Since “I couldn’t have the operation here in Italy because I didn’t have the necessary machinery, I had to go to America.”
The surgery, fortunately, went well: «I was operated on, but the paralysis was there and it was bad too. From that moment on I lived only for heal. It took thirty yearsbut I did it.”
Cinzia Leone realized during the post-operative period that the recovery would not be easy or quick: «I thought that after a while I would be healed. I couldn’t imagine it would take so many years.” The strength to start again? “My job gave it to me,” she said. «If I don’t do my job, there I really die. So the thought of being able to return to acting as soon as possible was the greatest tie rod».
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
How to deal with an aneurysm today
Thirty years after the case of the actress Cinzia Leone, how is this type of aneurysm treated today?
«First of all it is necessary to distinguish the body aneurysms from those who are the cerebral aneurysmsi (including thecongenital aneurysm of the basilar artery)», he specifies Francesco Zenga, neurosurgeon, Director of Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery at Molinette Città dela Salute Hospital in Turin. «The latter have very particular characteristics: we can imagine them as bags which are found at the end of the arteries, which can break, causing even devastating hemorrhages within the brain. «This was the case of Mrs. Leone: her aneurysm was also located in an artery that was very difficult to reach surgically», explains the surgeon. «Thirty years ago a painting like yours made it necessary to intervene with circulation suspension (in which blood circulation is suspended for a few moments in order to be able to operate). Today, aneurysms are almost no longer treated surgically, but via an approach endovascular. Basically, an entrance to the arteries is created through a small cut on the leg, generally on the thigh, and small metal wires are inserted to form a sort of ball that enters the bag (i.e. the aneurysm) and the closes from the insidetherefore without the need to operate surgically.”
Where are aneurysms treated today in Italy, particularly cerebral ones?
«There are many centers that on tthe entire Italian territory deal specifically with vascular neurosurgery, but above all it is important to specify that there are many healthcare facilities where the endovascular treatment of aneurysms is absolutely on the agenda».
After endovascular treatment, is a rehabilitation process still necessary?
«Generally we neurosurgeons manage patients post-operatively, subsequently there may be a need for the person treated to do a more or less long period of rehabilitation».
How long can this period last?
“Can Still situations may occur in which the patient recovers after several years: it depends on how he replies the brain to neurovascular treatment and from what you want to do again and at what level».
