Are aneurysms hereditary?

On my mother's side of the family there  have been several blood relatives who have suffered or passed away do to aneurysms. My mother's father had a fatal aneurysm and my mother was hospitalized in time to catch an almost fatal one. Are these hereditary and what precaucions should I take? I am alomost the same age my mother was when she had hers so I am a little concerned. Any answers would be appreciated. Thank you.

[skydnsr]

It seems to be generally believed that aneurysms do run in families.  That does not mean that you yourself are going to have an aneurysm, just because your mother and grandfather did.  Very often, these types of conditions will skip a generation.  

Research is ongoing, but to my knowledge, the exact method of inheritance has not been determined, and there is not yet a genetic test that a family member can take.  It just seems that, oftentimes, aneurysms will crop up on more than one member of a family, and when that happens, you almost have to assume that there is some type of genetic connection.

What you can do is (1) Take good care of yourself.  Eat right, excercise regularly, don't smoke, and get routine preventive physical exams.  (2) With your strong family history of aneurysms, you might be a candidate for proactive CT scanning.  It is something you can talk to your doctor about, if you choose.  Thanks for posting, and good luck.  

And, if any other member knows more about this, please share with the rest of us.

[pikachu4592]

I forgot to include that the aneurysms in my family have have all been cerebral hemorages. I am not sure what research has been done on this. I am currently trying to concieve (conceive) and wanted to know how this may factor into things too. My GP is aware of the history.

Luckily with my mother, she was able to undergo surgery once it was discovered after severe headaches sent her to the ER. It was found while running a CAT scan and an MRI and was bleeding causing pressure to build. After the surgery, she expericened a little memory loss and her sense of smells was decreased. It took her several months of recovery, but after about a year she was back to her old self.

[skydnsr]

It seems to be generally believed that aneurysms do run in families.  That does not mean that you yourself are going to have an aneurysm, just because your mother and grandfather did.  Very often, these types of conditions will skip a generation.  

Research is ongoing, but to my knowledge, the exact method of inheritance has not been determined, and there is not yet a genetic test that a family member can take.  It just seems that, oftentimes, aneurysms will crop up on more than one member of a family, and when that happens, you almost have to assume that there is some type of genetic connection.

What you can do is (1) Take good care of yourself.  Eat right, excercise regularly, don't smoke, and get routine preventive physical exams.  (2) With your strong family history of aneurysms, you might be a candidate for proactive CT scanning.  It is something you can talk to your doctor about, if you choose.  Thanks for posting, and good luck.  

And, if any other member knows more about this, please share with the rest of us.

[pikachu4592]

Thank you for the advice. I don't smoke & rarely drink and go regularly for my yearly exams so I am glad that works in my favor. I will definately check with my GP about screenings do to higher risk posibilities.

[Eddie1994]

A great example of hereditary is the Vice President Joe Biden and his family.  His son was just diagnoised with an apparent stroke.  The VP suffered from a rupture years ago.  The Associated Press put it this way:  "doctors will evaluate factors such as whether Biden had a blood clot, blood vessel injury or signs of his family's history of aneurysms. However, "the reality is in about 30 percent of cases we don't know why this stroke happened.""

[barbwire76]

my mom died with an aneurysm of the aorta.  my oldest brother had two: one in the groin and one in the aorta.  His were fixed with sugery.  My next brother had an anuerysm in the groin.  surgery was performed. He lived but had a heart attack while still in the hospital also got pneumonia and then sepsis and died after a week in the hospital.  How often should I be checked for an aneurysm.

[skydnsr]

I am so sorry for your losses.  

How often you should get checked depends on a lot of factors.  The main thing is to get checked the first time, see what is there (hopefully nothing), and see what the doctor says about how often you should be rechecked.  Partly it will depend on what is found, and partly it will depend on how old you are right now.  If there was a consistent age at which your relatives' aneurysms seem to have formed, that might figure into it, also.  

If you are middle aged or older, and if you have no visible dilations of any kind, then I imagine you will not have to be rechecked any more often than once every several years -- but that is just my guess as an educated lay person.  I'm not a doctor of any kind.  You really need a doctor who has a special interest in aortic aneurysms, to answer this.

For more information about familial aortic aneurysm disease, check out the website of the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation:  www.bicuspidfoundation.com.  Look for their pages on TAAD (which I think stands for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Disease -- or something like that, anyway).  They are very aware of this issue, and they do have a medical advisory board.

Thanks for posting.

[Younique1]

Don't want to scare you or anything but my family has an Aneurysm Syndrome called Loeys Dietz Syndrome.  For more information on it, go to www.loeysdietz.org

It is a connective tissue disorder that is similar to Marfan's Syndrome.  Myself, my oldest son (21) and my daughter (18) have all had our aorta's repaired and are doing fine.  You are more suseptible to having aneurysms and need to be checked annually at least.  With Marfan's, the magic number is 5 mm before having surgery but with Loeys Dietz, you would have the surgery sooner.

I suggest finding an excellent cardiologist and/or geneticist and doing a full work up on your family history.  I am in CA and my family goes to Stanford Medical Center where they have an excellent team of doctors.  The doctor that this syndrome is named after is located at John Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore.

[nunu75]

hello, I have had the same problem in the same way as you. It runs deep in my family history I am experiencing neck pain behind my ears where my mother had hers I have serious headaches and even seizures I am wondering if it is hereditary. good luck with your child bearing hope all goes well. wishing you the best.

[MI33]

I have had a family history of brain aneurysms.  I soon will be celebrating my 13 year anniversary of survival, intercerebrel, that burst and was successfully operated on. I was 19 years old, and it all was very devastating.  I since have had a son, been married, divorced, etc., etc., ... But since July of 2012 I have had unmanagabley painful and LONG headaches that do not resemble migraines!!? So ofcourse, migraine meds and narcotics don't help... I have been under the care of a wonderful neurologist, and have had multiple scans and tests~  The headaches really put a huge damper on my life.  My left side is semi~paralyzed already, so life is not the ultimatest!! The pain in my brain is mostly around the surgical area, but changes A LOT.  Thank you.

[pistolgayle]

My aunt had a cerebral aneurysm a few years ago and had successful surgery.  However, she continued to have severe headaches almost to the point where she could not function.  The neurologist diagnosed her with trigeminal neuralgia.  Apparently, the nerve in her face was affected and this condition is extremely painful.  Recently, she had surgery to aleviate the pain and it was successful.  Maybe this is a consideration for your pain.  I hope it gets better.