Brain Anuresms

Brain Aneurysms: The Silent Hunter

A brain aneurysm is the progressive widening of an artery in the brain, which weakens the blood vessel's walls and can eventually lead to deadly hemorrhaging. Ten percent of all brain aneurysm patients die before reaching the hospital and upon arrival, the greatest danger to their life is another rupture of the previously burst blood vessel in the brain, contributing largely to the high mortality rate. Up to fifty percent of brain hemorrhage patients eventually die as a result of their hemorrhage. Permanent cerebral damage is caused in an additional twenty-five percent, leading to an overall need for immediate detection and treatment.

Doctors are still unsure as to why a person develops a cerebral aneurysm. The only general statistics on who is at risk are obtained from the autopsies of dead patients and are still inconclusive. Aneurysms are extremely uncommon in those under twenty years old and seem to become more frequent in patients over sixty-five, apparently attributed to the aging of the muscular layer of the blood vessel as it stretches over time and eventually leads to an aneurysm. However, brain aneurysms are most commonly discovered in young adults (twenty to forty years old). Socio-economic background, diet, and general health status are also considered in determining the cause with smoking significantly increasing the danger of developing a cerebral aneurysm. Rare diseases known to weaken blood vessel walls such as Marfan's Syndrome, Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Polycystic Kidney Disease, and Fibro-Muscular Dysplasia may also be attributed to the cause of an aneurysm.

Extremely dangerous, brain aneurysms often break open and bleed into the brain, causing a stroke and even death. Hemorrhaging is serious and a high incidence of recurrent bleeding follows the days of the initial rupture. Hydrocephalus (water on the brain), vasospasm (blood vessel narrowing due to blood irritation), re-bleeding, and aneurysm growth all have the potential of occurring within the subsequent weeks. Practically inevitable aneurysm growth increases the pressure on the surrounding brain and exacerbates pain and problems. One third of patients who suffer from a hemorrhage survive with a good recovery, one third survive with substantial disabilities, and the other third die as a result.

Many people live their whole life with a small, undiagnosed, and un-ruptured aneurysm