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unruptured 5mm brain aneurysm

I HAVE AN UNRUPTURED 5 MM BRAIN ANEURYSM WHICH APPEARED FOLLOWING A ROUTINE MRA SCAN
FOLLOWING  OPEN HEAD BRAIN SURGERY TO REMOVE A NON CANCEROUS TUMOUR ABOUT 3 YEARS   AGO THE LAST SCAN 15 MONTHS SHOWED NOTHING - MY NEUROSURGEON WANTS ME TO HAVE A DIGITAL SUBTRACTION ANGIOGRAM TO CARRY OUT A MORE DETAILED EVALUATION. HOW DANGEROUS IS THIS TYPE OF SCAN. I KNOW IT HAS IN RISKS IN RELATION TO STROKES ETC., I AM 63 YEARS OF AGE.
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Many thanks for your reply - no I am not a smoker except in my early twenties when I only smoked 5 cigs a day, however, I did smoke cigars in my thirties and forties, again only about 10 per month. I have not smoked in about 20 years. My drinking is very moderate - about 12 units per week. I am 5'11" and weigh about 210 lbs. I walk every day for about a half hour. My blood pressure is normal.  I was more concerned about the
test i.e. The Subtraction (Digital) angiogram and the possible risks involved. I did have a cloting problem about 7 years ago when it was discovered I had clots in my lungs and the vena cava artery to the heart - I spent 3 weeks in hospital and 3 years on Warfin medication.  Many thaks again for your help.
                                                                  BEST4444
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Avatar universal
Dear Best4444,

Interesting.  The rate of growth is high compared to most aneurysms so some type of intervention is necessary.  Five seems to be the number most specialist use as a guide to move beyond watchful waiting.  The scan appears to be less invasive than older arterialgrams where a catheter is threaded through the blood vessels.  In this case, a contrast dye is injected to the artery and CT Scans using specialized computer imaging captures hundreds more images.  

Age has tendency to make blood vessels less pliable.  Smoking adds to the pliability risk.  Just for education purposes and since this is an anonymous site, are you or were you a cigarette smoker?  It would help to know this since smoking can cause arteries to "harden" as it were.  Thank you for your help and I hope my answer helped you.    
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