Dr. Arvind Ahuja spoke at our meeting again today about Cerebral Aneurysm. Thank you for the Power Point also, which helped each of us have a better understanding. Aneurysm is the dilation of the wall of the cerebral artery, caused when blood leaks, weakening the vessel and increasing the risk of it rupturing. 2/3 of people with burst aneurysm’s die and the others have a slow recovery that includes weakness, vision issues, memory issues, slow speech, etc. If discovered, can be surgically treated using Surgical Clipping or Endovascular treatment.
Causes of aneurysms can be Traumatic brain injury (<1%), Sepsis (2-6%), Smoking – correlates with younger onset of rupture by 5-10 years and risk of rupture is twice as high in smokers, Uncontrolled Hypertension (high blood pressure) is 8.3 times higher risk for bleed. Increasing age, being female and alcohol consumption of 10 drinks / week all increase your risk. 6-20% incidence occurring in family members of initial patient, family members of first or second degree. Some other conditions can increase chances – polycystic kidney disease, Marfan’s syndrome, and Neurofibromatosis I.
Typically, no warning signs, median age is 50 and an incidental finding on MRI for another reason. But most people will tell you they had the worst headache of their life and nothing helped, that is what brings them in. Can do MRA (like MRI but specifically looks at blood vessels)
Incidence: 500,000 cases annually worldwide, most found after rupture.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle: reduce stress, adequate rest, good nutrition, exercise, optimal weight, quite smoking
