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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Unruptured brain aneurysms now affect roughly 1 in 15 healthy adults, up from about 1 in 34 two decades ago, according to a large systematic review published in Lancet Neurology. The rise can't be fully explained by an aging population or improved imaging, hinting at unknown environmental risk factors. Researchers say targeted screening for high-risk groups — not broad population screening — is the way forward.
Unruptured brain aneurysms are showing up far more often than they used to — and scientists aren't entirely sure why. A sweeping systematic review and meta-analysis of 162 studies and over 316,000 people found that prevalence jumped from 2.9% to 6.6% over two decades, with roughly 1 in 15 healthy adults now carrying one. Even after adjusting for age and sex, the prevalence ratio between 2016–2022 and 2002–2015 was 1.8, suggesting that aging populations and sharper imaging technology don't tell the whole story.
Researchers point to unknown — possibly environmental — risk factors as likely contributors. Women, older adults, smokers, and those with hypertension face higher risk, as do people with connective-tissue disorders, a family history of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, or polycystic kidney disease. The good news: overall rates of aneurysm rupture have actually dropped 40% over 30 years, tracking declines in smoking and hypertension.
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Why it matters: With AI-assisted imaging expanding rapidly, more aneurysms will be caught incidentally — raising important questions about when to treat. Since surgical or endovascular intervention carries real procedural risks, experts stress that targeted screening of high-risk individuals, not blanket population screening, is the smarter clinical path.
