An intracranial aneurysm (also called cerebral or brain aneurysm) is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel.

Classification
Cerebral aneurysms are classified both by size and shape. Small aneurysms have a diameter of less than 15mm. Larger aneurysms include those classified as large (15 to 25mm), giant (25 to 50mm), and super giant (over 50mm)

Signs and symptoms
A small, unchanging aneurysm will produce few, if any, symptoms. Before a larger aneurysm ruptures, the individual may experience such symptoms as a sudden and unusually severe headache, nausea, vision impairment, vomiting, and loss of consciousness, or the individual may be asymptomatic (i.e., experiencing no symptoms at all).

Treatment

Emergency treatment for individuals with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm generally includes restoring deteriorating respiration and reducing intracranial pressure. Currently there are two treatment options for securing intracranial aneurysms: Surgical clipping or endovascular coiling . If possible, either surgical clipping or endovascular coiling is usually performed within the first 24 hours after bleeding to occlude the ruptured aneurysm and reduce the risk of rebleeding.

While a large meta-analysis found the outcomes and risks of surgical clipping and endovascular coiling to be statistically similar, no consensus has been reached. In particular, the large randomised control trial International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial appears to indicate a higher rate of recurrence when intracerebral aneurysms are treated using endovascular coiling. Analysis of data from this trial has indicated a 7% lower eight-year mortality rate with coiling, a high rate of aneurysm recurrence in aneurysms treated with coiling, from 28.6-33.6% within a year., a 6.9 times greater rate of late retreatment for coiled aneurysms, and a rate of rebleeding 8 times higher than surgically-clipped aneurysms.