Can a 3mm cerebral aneurysm be dangerous?

[Jenni5543]

I recently had an MRI to try to determine the cause of my prolonged double vision, and the doctor said that although he could find nothing to explain the vision problem, he did notice a 3mm aneurysm.  He suggested that I have another MRI in 12 months time to see how it's going.  Is this reasonable or should I be doing something more?

[TJM24]

Welcome to the small aneurysm club.  I had an MRA for some headaches I was having back in late June.  I got a call a few hours later that scared the heck out of me.  They told me I had a 3 mm aneurysm.  I fretted for several weeks before I got in to see a neuro.  I had already researched surgeries, etc. figuring its a ticking time bomb and surgery was required.  To my surprise the neuro really put me at ease and recommended the exact thing as your doc: recheck it in 12 months.  Its still a bit unsettling but he was adamant that no surgeon would operate on this at this stage.  He actually called it a pre-aneursym or infindubulum.  Where is your aneurysm located?  Mine is in the anterior communicating artery.  He put me on no limitations other than no smoking.  I told him I love to workout, play sports and lift weights.  He said I could do whatever I wanted so long as it did not include power lifting 400 lbs or something extreme like that.  

[crwstar]

Hi - I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis. Have you been referred to a neurosurgeon?

Your question is a good one. Its one I asked when I was originally diagnosed 1.5 years ago. I found that you could go to 5 different doctors and get different responses from each. There's a number of factors that determine if yours fall into a dangerous category. If you have a family history of aneurysms, or have high blood pressure or smoke these are things to look into or change. I have read of people having annie's rupture as small as 2.4mm so anything is possible but just get yourself with a good neurosurgeon who does a thorough history and make a plan for follow up. I go in at this point once a year. First time around they found the 3.5 mm annie and this last CTA they did, there were two more tiny annies. What's reduced my stress is simply knowing I have a plan.

It wasn't until after I found out I had the aneurysm and saw the first neurosurgeon that I found out I have family members who had annies or had history of strokes and TIA's.

Find yourself a good neurosurgeon whom you can have yearly check ups with and join the wait and watch group ;-)

Wishing you well.
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