They also can result from trauma or infection, but this is very rare. The highest incidence of brain aneurysms is in the age group of 40 to 60. Predisposition factors currently being studied are smoking habits, lifestyle and heredity. Aneurysms can enlarge and cause pressure, which can cause headache or visual disturbances, and then eventually the aneurysm could rupture. The rupturing of an aneurysm causes a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is a very life threatening situation.
Most aneurysms are asymptomatic until they rupture.
Rupture usually occurs while a person is active rather than asleep. The first test that is performed is a lumbar spinal tap, which is used to detect blood in the cerebrospinal fluid and indicates bleeding into the subarachnoid space of the brain. The scanning can be very confining and very noisy to some patients. Metal objects need to be removed before having the scan done because of the magnet signals produced by the scan. On the other hand, a cerebral angiogram is an invasive procedure, where a catheter is inserted in the artery and passes through the blood vessel to the brain.