Cerebral (Intracranial) Aneurysms

An aneurysm is a localized pathological dilatation of the wall of an artery. Aneurysms form as a result of degenerative processes of the arterial wall driven by a complex interaction of biological and hemodynamic factors.

Aneurysms are frequently located in the aorta and near arterial bifurcations in the circle of Willis in the brain. Aneurysms can also arise in peripheral and visceral arteries.
  

    

Cerebral (IntraCranial) Aneurysm

Cerebral (intracranial) aneurysms are those aneurysms forming in arteries supplying the brain. If a cerebral aneurysm ruptures, blood flows into the brain, or a protective membrane surrounding the brain called the subarachnoid space. Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a medical emergency.

Intracranial aneurysms are fairly common and are often asymptomatic until the time of their rupture. Subarachnoid hemorrhage associated with aneurysmal rupture is a potentially lethal event with a mortality rate as high as 50%. Many patients who survive the initial hemorrhage have permanent disability.

New understanding of aneurysm pathology, biomechanics and allostatic healing mechanisms are shifting research towards endovascular remodeling, repair and healing of aneurysms rather than simple exclusion.

Historically, the medical device industry has segmented the market for endovascular aneurysm repair along anatomical lines; abdominal aortic, thoracic aortic, cerebral and peripheral.

However, the fact that endovascular technologies allow interventionalists access to aneurysms via the arterial highway under real time imaging guidance is unifying aneurysm research into a single disease management area.