Medicines for Brain aneurysm

What it is

A brain (cerebral) aneurysm is a bulge or ballooning in a weakened area of a blood vessel wall in the brain. Most brain aneurysms are small, cause no symptoms, and never cause problems — many are found by chance on scans done for other reasons. The serious risk is that an aneurysm can burst (rupture), causing bleeding around or into the brain (a subarachnoid haemorrhage), which is a life-threatening emergency. The classic warning of a rupture is a sudden, extremely severe headache — often described as the worst ever, or like being hit on the head ("thunderclap" headache) — sometimes with a stiff neck, vomiting, sensitivity to light, blurred or double vision, or loss of consciousness. Risk factors for aneurysms and rupture include high blood pressure, smoking, family history, and increasing age. A large unruptured aneurysm can occasionally press on structures and cause symptoms such as vision changes.

How it is treated

Management depends on whether an aneurysm has ruptured and, for unruptured ones, on its size, location and risk. A ruptured aneurysm is a medical emergency treated urgently in hospital, usually with a procedure to seal off the aneurysm (either from inside the blood vessel using coils, or by surgery) and intensive care to manage the bleeding and complications. For an unruptured aneurysm found by chance, the risk of it bursting is weighed against the risks of treatment; some are monitored with scans, while others are treated preventively, decided by a specialist team. Reducing risk factors — controlling blood pressure and stopping smoking — is important, especially for those with an aneurysm or a family history. The overriding practical message is to treat a sudden, severe "thunderclap" headache as an emergency.