Aneurysm

An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (starting point) for clot formation ( thrombosis) and embolization. As an aneurysm increases in size, the risk of rupture, which leads to uncontrolled bleeding, increases. Although they may occur in any blood vessel, particularly lethal examples include aneurysms of the Circle of Willis in the brain, aortic aneurysms affecting the thoracic aorta, and abdominal aortic aneurysms. Aneurysms can arise in the heart itself following a heart attack, including both ventricular and atrial septal aneurysms. There are congenital atrial septal aneurysms, a rare heart defect.

Etymology

The word is from Greek: ἀνεύρυσμα, aneurysma, "dilation", from ἀνευρύνειν, aneurynein, "to dilate".

Classification

Aneurysms are classified by type, morphology, or location.

True and false aneurysms

A true aneurysm is one that involves all three layers of the wall of an artery (intima, media and adventitia). True aneurysms include atherosclerotic, syphilitic, and congenital aneurysms, as well as ventricular aneurysms that follow transmural myocardial infarctions (aneurysms that involve all layers of the attenuated wall of the heart are also considered true aneurysms).

A false aneurysm, or pseudoaneurysm, is a collection of blood leaking completely out of an artery or vein but confined next to the vessel by the surrounding tissue. This blood-filled cavity will eventually either thrombose (clot) enough to seal the leak or rupture out of the surrounding tissue.

Pseudoaneurysms can be caused by trauma that punctures the artery, such as knife and bullet wounds, as a result of percutaneous surgical procedures such as coronary angiography or arterial grafting, or use of an artery for injection.

Morphology

Aneurysms can also be classified by their macroscopic shapes and sizes and are described as either saccular or fusiform. The shape of an aneurysm is not specific for a specific disease. The size of the base or neck is useful in determining the chance of for example endovascular coiling.

Saccular aneurysms, or "berry" aneurysms, are spherical in shape and involve only a portion of the vessel wall; they usually range from in diameter, and are often filled, either partially or fully, by a thrombus.Saccular aneurysms have a "neck" that connects the aneurysm to its main ("parent") artery, a larger, rounded area, called the dome.

Fusiform aneurysms ("spindle-shaped" aneurysms) are variable in both their diameter and length; their diameters can extend up to . They often involve large portions of the ascending and transverse aortic arch, the abdominal aorta, or, less frequently, the iliac arteries.

Location

Aneurysms can also be classified by their location:

* Arterial and venous, with arterial being more common.
* The heart, including coronary artery aneurysms, ventricular aneurysms, aneurysm of sinus of Valsalva, and aneurysms following cardiac surgery.
* The aorta, namely aortic aneurysms including thoracic aortic aneurysms and abdominal aortic aneurysms.
* The brain, including cerebral aneurysms, berry aneurysms, and Charcot–Bouchard aneurysms.
* The legs, including the popliteal arteries.
* The kidney, including renal artery aneurysm and intraparenchymal aneurysms.
* Capillaries, specifically capillary aneurysms.
* The Large vessels such as external and internal jugular veins

Cerebral aneurysms, also known as intracranial or brain aneurysms, occur most commonly in the anterior cerebral artery, which is part of the circle of Willis. This can cause severe strokes leading to death. The next most common sites of cerebral aneurysm occurrence are in the internal carotid artery.

Size

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are commonly divided according to their size and symptomatology. An aneurysm is usually defined as an outer aortic diameter over 3 cm (normal diameter of the aorta is around 2 cm), or more than 50% of normal diameter that of a healthy individual of the same sex and age. If the outer diameter exceeds 5.5 cm, the aneurysm is considered to be large.

The common iliac artery is classified as:

Signs and symptoms

Aneurysm presentation may range from life-threatening complications of hypovolemic shock to being found incidentally on X-ray. Symptoms will differ by the site of the aneurysm and can include:

Cerebral aneurysm

Symptoms can occur when the aneurysm pushes on a structure in the brain. Symptoms will depend on whether an aneurysm has ruptured or not. There may be no symptoms present at all until the aneurysm ruptures. For an aneurysm that has not ruptured the following symptoms can occur:
* Fatigue
* Loss of perception
* Loss of balance
* Speech problems
* Double vision
For a ruptured aneurysm, symptoms of a subarachnoid hemorrhage may present:
* Severe headaches
* Loss of vision
* Double vision
* Neck pain or stiffness
* Pain above or behind the eyes

Abdominal aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm involves a regional dilation of the aorta and is diagnosed using ultrasonography, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. A segment of the aorta that is found to be greater than 50% larger than that of a healthy individual of the same sex and age is considered aneurysmal. Abdominal aneurysms are usually asymptomatic but in rare cases can cause lower back pain or lower limb ischemia.

Renal (kidney) aneurysm

* Flank pain and tenderness
* Hypertension
* Haematuria
* Signs of hypovolemic shock

Risk factors

Risk factors for an aneurysm include diabetes, obesity, hypertension, tobacco use, alcoholism, high cholesterol, copper deficiency, increasing age, and tertiary syphilis infection. Connective tissue disorders such as Loeys-Dietz syndrome, Marfan syndrome, and certain forms of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are also associated with aneurysms. Aneurysms, dissections, and ruptures in individuals under 40 years of age are a major diagnostic criteria of the vascular form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS).

Specific infective causes associated with aneurysm include:
* Advanced syphilis infection resulting in syphilitic aortitis and an aortic aneurysm
* Tuberculosis, causing Rasmussen's aneurysms
* Brain infections, causing infectious intracranial aneurysms

A minority of aneurysms are associated with genetic factors. Examples include:
* Berry aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery of the circle of Willis, associated with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease
* Familial thoracic aortic aneurysms
* Cirsoid aneurysms, secondary to congenital arteriovenous malformations

Pathophysiology

Aneurysms form for a variety of interacting reasons. Multiple factors, including factors affecting a blood vessel wall and the blood through the vessel, contribute.

The pressure of blood within the expanding aneurysm may also injure the blood vessels supplying the artery itself, further weakening the vessel wall. Without treatment, these aneurysms will ultimately progress and rupture.

Infection. A mycotic aneurysm is an aneurysm that results from an infectious process that involves the arterial wall. A person with a mycotic aneurysm has a bacterial infection in the wall of an artery, resulting in the formation of an aneurysm. One of the causes of mycotic aneurysms is infective endocarditis. The most common locations include arteries in the abdomen, thigh, neck, and arm. A mycotic aneurysm can result in sepsis, or life-threatening bleeding if the aneurysm ruptures. Less than 3% of abdominal aortic aneurysms are mycotic aneurysms.

Syphilis. The third stage of syphilis also manifests as aneurysm of the aorta, which is due to loss of the vasa vasorum in the tunica adventitia.

Copper deficiency. A minority of aneurysms are caused by copper deficiency, which results in a decreased activity of the lysyl oxidase enzyme, affecting elastin, a key component in vessel walls. Copper deficiency results in vessel wall thinning, and thus has been noted as a cause of death in copper-deficient humans, chickens, and turkeys.

Mechanics

Aneurysmal blood vessels are prone to rupture under normal blood pressure and flow due to the special mechanical properties that make them weaker. To better understand this phenomenon, we can first look at healthy arterial vessels which exhibit a J-shaped stress-strain curve with high strength and high toughness (for a biomaterial ''in vivo''). Unlike crystalline materials whose linear elastic region follows Hooke's Law under uniaxial loading, many biomaterials exhibit a J-shaped stress-strain curve which is non-linear and concave up. The blood vessel can be under large strain, or the amount of stretch the blood vessel can undergo, for a range of low applied stress before fracture, as shown by the lower part of the curve. The area under the curve up to a given strain is much lower than that for the equivalent Hookean curve, which is correlated to toughness. Toughness