Impact of unruptured intracranial aneurysms on public health in the United States.
OBJECTIVE
Unruptured intracranial aneurysms constitute a significant public health problem that has not been quantified. The purpose of this study is to document the magnitude of this problem in the United States.


METHODS
National Hospital Discharge Survey data from 1979, 1984, and 1989 served as the basis for calculating patient numbers and frequency distributions. Cost estimates included the direct costs of hospitalization and surgery for those who had surgery, disability and lost income from morbidity, and lost income from mortality.


RESULTS
The estimated lifetime cost (including hospitalization, surgery, morbidity, and mortality) for annual cases of patients hospitalized with unruptured intracranial aneurysms in the United States is $522,500,000 compared with $1,755,600,000 for patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.


CONCLUSIONS
These data underscore the need to better understand unruptured intracranial aneurysm as a risk factor for subarachnoid hemorrhage, to define other subarachnoid hemorrhage risk factors, and to optimize the management of patients with these conditions.
Wiebers
D O
DO
Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 55905.
Torner
J C
JC
Meissner
I
I
D000368:Aged; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D012307:Risk Factors; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D014481:United States