Morphological parameters and anatomical locations associated with rupture status of small intracranial aneurysms

Sci Rep. 2018 Apr 24;8(1):6440. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-24732-1.

Abstract

Characterization of the rupture risk factors for small intracranial aneurysms (SIAs, ≤5 mm) is clinically valuable. The present study aims to identify image-based morphological parameters and anatomical locations associated with the rupture status of SIAs. Two hundred and sixty-three patients with single SIAs (128 ruptured, 135 unruptured) were included, and six morphological parameters, including size, aspect ratio (AR), size ratio (SR), height-width ratio (H/W), flow angle (FA) and aneurysm width-parent artery diameter ratio, and the aneurysm locations were evaluated using three-dimensional geometry, and were used to identify a correlation with aneurysm rupture. Statistically significant differences were observed between ruptured and unruptured groups for AR, SR, H/W, FA, and aneurysm locations, from univariate analyses. Logistic regression analysis further revealed that AR (p = 0.034), SR (p = 0.004), H/W (p = 0.003), and FA (p < 0.001) had the strongest independent correlation with ruptured SIAs after adjustment for age, gender and other clinical risk factors. A future study on a larger SIA cohort need to establish to what extent the AR, SR, H/W and FA increase the risk of rupture in patients with unruptured SIAs in terms of absolute risks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aneurysm, Ruptured / pathology
  • Cerebral Angiography / methods*
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intracranial Aneurysm / diagnostic imaging*
  • Intracranial Aneurysm / pathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Rupture, Spontaneous / pathology