An otherwise healthy woman complained of a severe headache that started that same morning. Blood pressure taken at the ED was 210 mmHg systolic. She was sent for a CT head-CTA neck and head arteries, for fear that a subarachnoid hemorrhage was the cause of her headache.

CT head showed extensive subarachnoid bleeding, as well as signs of brain edema and mild hydrocephalus, while the CTA revealed a small basilar tip aneurysm.

The aneurysm was successfully coiled, and the patient recovered promptly and uneventfully.

An MRI head done 3 months later showed only subtle hemosiderin deposits on SWI.