title: The neglected need for psychological intervention in patients suffering from incidentally discovered intracranial aneurysms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies demonstrated a conspicuously elevated rate of psychiatric disorders in patients with incidental intracranial aneurysms. This study was designed to analyze the impact of this observation on the post-interventional rates of PTSD, depressions and anxiety disorders in this collective.
  
  
  METHODS
  Physically unaffected iA patients with an unremarkable medical history were included in this two center study. Pre-interventional psychiatric histories, rates of post-interventional depressions, subjective trauma, PTSD, and pre-interventional fears were determined by questionnaires (Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Impact of Event Scale (IES), civilian Post-traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD) Check List (PCL-C)). Benign meningioma (M) patients served as controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  58 M and 45 iA patients were enrolled. Significantly higher rates of PTSD, elevated trauma scores, and moderate/severe depressions (PTSD: p=0.0017; IES: p=0.0038; BDI: p=0.0301) were demonstrated in the iA collective. After excluding patients with a positive pre-interventional psychiatric history those differences were not reproducible. 70% of the iA patients reported an improvement of their unspecific pre-interventional symptoms, while 30% would have rated a psychological consultation as helpful.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data identifies the early psychological consultation as a relevant and by affected patients accepted treatment modification when trying to improve the outcome after treatment of incidental aneurysms.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany. Electronic address: Holger-Wenz@gmx.de.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wenz
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wenz
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany.
authors.forename: Máté E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Maros
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Groden
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmieder
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fontana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Depression; Fear; Impact of Event Scale (IES); Incidental aneurysm; Post-traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD); Psychological outcome