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Actor Tom Sizemore is in a critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm.

His manager described the situation as “wait and see” with the 61-year-old in intensive care.

What is a brain aneurysm, how are they treated and what is the outlook for patients?

What is a brain aneurysm?

An aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall.

As blood passes through the weakened blood vessel, the blood pressure causes a small area to bulge outwards like a balloon.

The Brain Aneurysm Foundation in the US compares it to a weak spot on a bike tyre’s inner tube.

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Because the walls of the artery are thin, the aneurysm is at risk of bursting.

What happens when a brain aneurysm bursts?

The first symptom is normally an agonising headache.

It’s been described as a “thunderclap headache”, the NHS says, similar to a sudden hit on the head.

Other possible symptoms include vomiting, pain on looking at light, loss of consciousness and a stiff neck.

When an aneurysm ruptures, blood spills into the space between the skull and the brain.

This is called a haemorrhage or haemorrhagic stroke and is considered a medical emergency.

Analysing brain MRI results. Pic:AP
Image:
Pic: AP

What are the symptoms of an unruptured brain aneurysm?

Unruptured brain aneurysms normally do not have any symptoms.

However they occasionally cause symptoms if they’re particularly large or press against tissues or nerves inside the brain.

According to the NHS, symptoms can include visual disturbances, pain above or around your eye, numbness or weakness on one side of your face and difficulties with speech, memory and concentration.

How are brain aneurysms treated?

Not all aneurysms are at risk of rupturing. Where an unruptured aneurysm is considered low-risk, it will usually be monitored rather than treated because the risk of operating often outweighs the benefit.

An aneurysm that is at risk of or has already burst may be treated with coiling or surgical clipping.

Coiling involves filling the aneurysm with a series of platinum coils that are threaded up from the patient’s groin.

The coils prevent more blood flowing into the aneurysm and pressing against the weakened walls.

Surgical clipping involves removing a section of the skull and placing a metal clip over the “neck” of the aneurysm to stop blood from flowing into it.

The same treatments are used for aneurysms that have already burst.

Who is at risk of having a brain aneurysm?

Brain aneurysms can develop in anyone at any age, but are more common in people over 40.

They are also more common in women.

People who smoke and those with high blood pressure are at greater risk of brain aneurysms.

Excessive alcohol consumption and drug use, particularly cocaine, are also associated with brain aneurysms.

What’s the outlook after a ruptured brain aneurysm?

Ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal in about 50% of cases, according to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.

About 15% of people with a ruptured aneurysm die before reaching the hospital. Most of the deaths are due to rapid and massive brain injury from the initial bleeding.

Of those who survive, about two thirds suffer permanent neurological problems.

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Scottie Scheffler: Freak Christmas dinner injury forces world’s best golfer to undergo surgery

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Scottie Scheffler: Freak Christmas dinner injury forces world's best golfer to undergo surgery

The world’s best golfer has suffered a freak injury while cooking Christmas dinner, forcing him to undergo surgery.

Scottie Scheffler sustained a puncture wound after cutting the palm of his right hand on broken glass.

The world number one required surgery as small glass fragments remained in the palm after the accident.

The injury has forced him out of the first tournament of the season, next week’s The Sentry in Hawaii.

Scottie Scheffler. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

But the 28-year-old has been told he will recover in three to four weeks, and he hopes to be back in action at The American Express tournament in California on 16 January.

Scheffler won an Olympic gold and seven PGA Tour titles in the last year and was recently named PGA Tour’s Player of the Year for a third season in a row.

In May, he was arrested by police during the US PGA Championship after he was accused of trying to drive around a traffic jam caused by a fatal accident.

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Spectators wore Free Scottie t-shirts and one wore an orange jumpsuit. Pic: Matt Stone-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
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Scheffler’s arrest became a major story at the US PGA Championship. Pic: Matt Stone-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Just hours later, he was released and allowed to return to Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky to play his second round of the tournament.

Criminal charges against Scheffler were later dismissed due to a lack of evidence and a police officer who arrested him was disciplined for not having his bodycam on at the time of the incident.

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Man indicted on murder charge after sleeping woman burned to death on New York City subway

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Man indicted on murder charge after sleeping woman burned to death on New York City subway

The man accused of burning a woman to death on a New York subway train has been indicted on murder and arson charges.

Sebastian Zapeta is accused of setting a sleeping woman on fire and then fanning the flames with a shirt, which caused her to be engulfed by the blaze.

He allegedly sat on a platform at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station, opposite the stopped train, and watched as she burned to death.

Authorities are still working to identify the victim.

Zapeta, 33, has been charged with one count of first degree murder, two counts of second degree murder and one count of arson in the first degree.

After a brief hearing in which the indictment was announced, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said: “This was a malicious deed. A sleeping, vulnerable woman on our subway system.”

Mr Gonzalez said police and medical examiners are using fingerprints and advanced DNA techniques to identify the victim, while also retracing her steps before the murder.

“Our hearts go out not only to this victim, but we know that there’s a family,” he said. “Just because someone appears to have been living in the situation of homelessness does not mean that there’s not going to be family devastated by the tragic way she lost her life.”

Police officers patrol the F train platform at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
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Officers patrol the platform where the woman died. Pic: AP

Zapeta was initially charged with murder and arson in a criminal complaint earlier this week.

Such filings are often a first step in the criminal process because all felony cases in New York require a grand jury indictment to proceed to trial, unless a defendant waives that requirement.

Zapeta was not present at the hearing. The most serious charge he is facing carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole and the indictment will be unsealed on 7 January.

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Zapeta is a Guatemalan who entered the US illegally having already been deported in 2018, officials say.

He was taken into custody last Sunday, after three children called 911 when they recognised him from an image shared by police.

During questioning, prosecutors say he claimed not to know what happened, and noted he consumes alcohol – but did identify himself in photos and videos showing the fire being lit.

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Pizza delivery woman stabs pregnant customer over $2 tip, police say

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Pizza delivery woman stabs pregnant customer over  tip, police say

A pizza delivery woman stabbed a pregnant customer over a $2 tip, authorities in the US say.

Brianna Alvelo, 22, is charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing the woman multiple times at a motel in Kissimmee, Florida.

The victim, her boyfriend and her five-year-old daughter were staying at the Riviera Motel to celebrate a birthday and ordered Marco’s pizza on Sunday, according to a court document reported by Sky News’ US sister outlet NBC News.

Alvelo delivered the pizza which cost around $33 (£26) and was asked to provide change for a $50 bill but did not have the change, the affidavit said.

The woman then searched for smaller bills and in the end gave Alvelo a $2 tip.

Brianna Alvelo
Pic:Osceola County Jail
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Brianna Alvelo Pic: Osceola County Jail

She told police that some time later she heard a loud knocking on the door. A man and a woman wearing masks and all black forced themselves into the room when she opened the door, she said.

The man brandished a silver revolver and demanded that the woman’s boyfriend go into the bathroom and the other person, believed to be Alvelo, pulled out a pocketknife, the document said.

As the woman turned to shield her child she felt a strike on her lower back, she said.

She then “threw her daughter onto the bed and attempted to pick up her phone”, the affidavit said, but Alvelo grabbed it and smashed it.

Alvelo then “began striking her multiple times with the knife”, according to the affidavit. The man who had the gun then yelled it was time to go, stopping the assault, it said.

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The woman received 14 stab wounds and discovered she was pregnant while being treated in hospital.

Alvelo is charged with attempted murder, home invasion with a firearm, kidnapping and aggravated assault, according to court records.

A man alleged to have accompanied Alvelo during the incident has not yet been identified.

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