27 - ANEURYSMS

Summary

Rupture of an aneurysm is associated with a very high degree of morbidity and mortality. Stroke-like apoplectic clinical syndromes occur with aneurysmal intra cerebral hemorrhage and correspond to the affected area. Lateralized focal neurologic deficits are most common with intra parenchymal hemorrhages due to middle cerebral aneurysms. Intracranial aneurysms are not a rare cause of both hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. Although the initial and most serious manifestation of an intracranial aneurysm, subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), does not typically result in focal neurologic deficits, several complications of ruptured or unruptured aneurysms can lead to focal neurologic deficits, which may develop suddenly in a stroke-like fashion. This is most often seen as a result of intracerebral hemorrhage from the initial rupture of the aneurysm. Cerebral vasospasm after SAH is another common cause of stroke-like, focal deficits. Thromboembolism from the dislodgement of an intra-aneurysmal clot is a less frequent cause of ischemic stroke.