Study of Asymptomatic (Silent) Hemorrhaging in Patients with Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysms

Abstract

  Among 300 consecutive cases of clipped unruptured cerebral aneurysms, asymptomatic (silent) hemorrhaging was detected intraoperatively in 8 cases (2.7%). The aneurysms with silent hemorrhaging were smaller (mean maximum diameter : 5.4mm) and exhibited a lower bleb detection rate on preoperative 3D-CT angiography (25%). In multivariate analysis, aneurysmal size and hypertension demonstrated trends towards significant associations with silent rupturing. Therefore, aneurysms with silent hemorrhagic bleb (blister) tend to cause minor leaks, which are hard to detect on preoperative 3D-CT angiography.