Object: The authors aimed to assess whether the prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in patients with intracranial meningiomas was higher than that in a healthy population.
Methods: The authors performed a hospital-based case-control study of 300 patients with newly diagnosed intracranial meningiomas and 900 age- and sex-matched controls without a history of brain tumors to evaluate any associations between intracranial aneurysms and intracranial meningiomas. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression models were used for case-control comparisons.
Results: Intracranial aneurysms were identified in 23 patients (7.7%) and 24 controls (2.7%; p < 0.001). There was a significant association between intracranial aneurysms and intracranial meningiomas (OR 2.913, 95% CI 1.613-5.261) and hypertension (OR 1.905, 95% CI 1.053-3.446). In a subgroup analysis of the patients with newly diagnosed intracranial meningiomas, there was a significant association between intracranial aneurysms and hypertension (OR 2.876, 95% CI 1.125-7.352) and tumor volume (OR 1.012, 95% CI 1.001-1.024). These patients were also more likely than controls to have other intracranial vascular diseases (p < 0.001), such as isolated occlusion of the intracranial vessels, excluding intracranial aneurysms.
Conclusions: The prevalence of intracranial aneurysms was higher in patients with intracranial meningiomas. Hypertension and tumor volume appear to be associated with the formation of intracranial aneurysms in these patients.
Keywords: DSA = digital subtraction angiography; MRA = MR angiography; hypertension; intracranial aneurysm; meningioma; oncology; prevalence; tumor volume.