Article snippet: The Republican push for a vote on a replacement health care plan has been delayed once again, this time because a key vote in the Senate is missing. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., underwent surgery last week to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. The Senator’s office released a statement on July 15 stating that the surgery came "following a routine annual physical," during which the clot was discovered. A two-inch blood clot was removed in a "minimally invasive craniotomy with an eyebrow incision." In this procedure, doctors cut the skin, remove a small piece of the skull and remove the blood clot in the front of the brain near the pituitary gland. They then replace the skull segment, may hold it in place with titanium plates and sew the patient up at the eyebrow hairline to leave the smallest scar possible. This approach is less painful than an open craniotomy and has faster recovery. That’s the unanswered question. Craniotomies are used on clots that range from acute and serious to chronic and benign. The brain has a tough membrane around it called the dura. If the clot is inside the dura, between the membrane and the surface of the brain, that’s a subdural aspirin and Plavix. It is not publicly known if McCain, 80, is on any such medication. If the clot is between the skull and the dura, it’s putting pressure on the brain from the outside and can quickly progress and compress the brain. This type of bleed would be an emergency and unlike... Link to the full article to read more