Temporary balloon occlusion (blocking) and functional testing is an unusual procedure we perform when one of the blood vessels of the neck or head has a problem that requires we close it off (for example, aneurysm trapping and vascular sacrifice). Fortunately, the brain has several connecting arteries that can take over if one of them is blocked. We can perform temporary vessel occlusion and functional testing to see if your brain can make these new connections. The procedure is similar to an angiogram. However, a special, soft balloon is placed in the blood vessel we want to close off. The balloon is inflated and the blood flow stopped temporarily while we carefully monitor you and run special tests to determine if this is a safe procedure for you.
