Intracranial Aneurysms: Treatment and Complications

An intracranial aneurysm is a focal bulge in the wall of a brain artery that can rupture without warning, flooding the space around the brain with blood in a condition called aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage—an event that kills or permanently disables roughly half of those it strikes. Researchers and clinicians study how aneurysms form, grow, and destabilize, drawing on hemodynamic factors like wall shear stress to understand why some lesions remain stable for decades while others rupture at small sizes. Treatment has advanced considerably, with endovascular coiling and flow diversion now offering alternatives to open neurosurgical clipping, yet serious complications such as cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia continue to claim lives even after a hemorrhage has been successfully secured. Key open questions include how to reliably predict rupture risk in unruptured aneurysms and how to prevent the wave of arterial narrowing that can injure the brain in the days following a bleed.

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Keywords

Aneurysmal Subarachnoid HemorrhageIntracranial AneurysmsEndovascular TreatmentCerebral VasospasmHemodynamicsNeurosurgical Clipping