Who Should Be Screened for a Brain Aneurysm?

According to Cedars-Sinai, approximately 10 million Americans have at least one brain aneurysm (also called cerebral aneurysm), and each year about 27,000 of these aneurysms will rupture, causing 14,000 deaths.

Background

• A brain aneurysm is an abnormal bubble-like enlargement of an artery in the brain. If an aneurysm ruptures, it bleeds and covers the surface of the brain with blood (called a subarachnoid hemorrhage).

Screening

• According to Cedars-Sinai and Penn State Hershey Neurosurgery, people who should be screened for a brain aneurysm are those considered at high risk: people who have two first-degree relatives (parents, siblings and children) who have had an aneurysm, people who have certain rare genetic diseases such as polycystic kidney disease, fibromuscular dysplasia, connective tissue disorders and coarctation of the aorta, and people with arteriovenous malformations and moyamoya disease.

Screening Method

• The most common method of screening for aneurysms is angiography. The doctor injects a dye into an artery that supplies blood to the brain. The dye follows the path of the brain's blood flow, and any obstructions or leaks show up on X-rays.

Other Risk Factors

• According to Penn State Hershey Neurosurgery, although the exact cause of brain aneurysms is unknown, both smoking and high blood pressure appear to be risk factors.

Considerations

• While the most serious consequences of cerebral aneurysms occur if they rupture, they can also cause problems by compressing other important nearby structures.