Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in young adults: a comparison between patients in the third and fourth decades of life.
OBJECTIVE
Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage rarely occurs in young adults. The aim of this work was to clarify the clinical characteristics of ruptured aneurysms in young adults in the third and fourth decades of life and to compare these two age groups.


METHODS
The authors retrospectively investigated 2493 patients who underwent surgical repair for ruptured cerebral aneurysms during a 14-year period (1988-2001). There were 25 patients (1%) in the third decade of life and 106 patients (4.3%) in the fourth decade. In general, favorable outcome was achieved in both groups. There were significant differences in the sizes and locations of aneurysms between the two age groups. Among patients in the fourth decade of life, the aneurysm was large and was located more often on the anterior cerebral artery.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study the authors summarize the clinical characteristics of a large series of 131 young adult patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms. Congenital factors as well as hemodynamic stress may contribute to differences in aneurysm size and location between the two age groups.
Horiuchi
Tetsuyoshi
T
Department of Neurosurgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
Tanaka
Yuichiro
Y
Hongo
Kazuhiro
K
Kobayashi
Shigeaki
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D023261:Glasgow Outcome Scale; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery