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Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) renders the brain critically ill from both primary and secondary brain insults. Excluding head trauma, the most common cause of SAH is rupture of a saccular aneurysm. Other causes include bleeding from a vascular malformation (arteriovenous malformation or dural arteriovenous fistula) and extension into the subarachnoid space from a primary intracerebral hemorrhage. Some idiopathic SAHs are localized to the perimesencephalic cisterns and are benign; they probably have a venous or capillary source, and angiography is unrevealing.
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SACCULAR (“BERRY”) ANEURYSM
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Autopsy and angiography studies have found that ~2% of adults harbor intracranial aneurysms, for a prevalence of 4 million persons in the United States; the aneurysm will rupture, producing SAH, in 25,000–30,000 cases per year. The overall mortality rate for aneurysmal SAH is ~35%, with around one-third of these patients dying immediately and prior to hospital admission. Of those who survive, more than half are left with clinically significant neurologic deficits as a result of the initial hemorrhage, cerebral vasospasm with infarction, or hydrocephalus. If the patient survives but the aneurysm is not obliterated, the rate of rebleeding is ~20% in the first 2 weeks, 30% in the first month, and ~3% per year afterward. Given these alarming figures, the major therapeutic emphasis is on preventing the predictable early complications of the SAH.
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Unruptured, asymptomatic aneurysms are much less dangerous than a recently ruptured aneurysm. The annual risk of rupture for aneurysms <10 mm in size is ~0.1%, and for aneurysms ≥10 mm in size is ~0.5–1%; the surgical morbidity rate far exceeds these percentages. Aneurysm location may also factor into risk, with basilar bifurcation aneurysms appearing to have a somewhat higher rupture risk. Because of the longer length of exposure to risk of rupture, younger patients with aneurysms >10 mm in size may benefit from prophylactic treatment. As with the treatment of asymptomatic carotid stenosis, this risk-benefit ratio strongly depends on the complication rate of treatment.
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Giant aneurysms, those >2.5 cm in diameter, occur at the same sites (see below) as small aneurysms, and account for 5% of cases. The three most common locations are the terminal internal carotid artery, middle cerebral artery (MCA) bifurcation, and top of the basilar artery. Their risk of rupture is ~6% in the first year after identification and may remain high indefinitely. They often cause symptoms by compressing the adjacent brain or cranial nerves.
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Mycotic aneurysms are usually located distal to the first bifurcation of major arteries of the circle of Willis. Most result from infected emboli due to bacterial endocarditis causing septic degeneration of arteries and subsequent dilation and rupture. Whether these lesions should be sought and repaired prior to rupture or left to heal spontaneously with antibiotic treatment remains controversial.
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Saccular aneurysms occur at the bifurcations of the large- to medium-sized intracranial arteries; rupture ...