Screening reveals a surprisingly high prevalence of intracranial aneurysms among women with long-term smoking history
A clinical screening study conducted by researchers at HUS Neurocenter and the University of Helsinki shows an exceptional number of intracranial aneurysms in middle-aged female smokers. Unruptured intracranial aneurysms are usually asymptomatic, but if ruptured, lead to a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), which currently is the twelfth most common cause of death in middle-aged women.
Based on life-style data stored at THL Biobank, it was possible to target invitations to participate in the new study to middle-aged women with previously reported long-term smoking history. Selection of the target group by the previously known data was a key to minimize the recruitment bias in this new study.
Finns generally have a very positive attitude towards research, and 50 re-contacted donors (> 30%) returned their voluntary consents to undergo computed tomography angiography (CTA) analysis as part of the globally groundbreaking screening study. Finally, a total of 43 women smokers participated in the CTA analysis, of whom five were found to have unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA). This number is extraordinarily high, suggesting an UIA prevalence rate more than 10% among middle-aged women smokers. The prevalence of UIAs is 2% in the general population.
To confirm the results obtained from the pilot study, planning of an expansion study has already begun in collaboration with THL Biobank. The ultimate goal of the study is to determine whether systematic screening of the long-term smoking women could increase women´s health in the future.
The results of the study have been published in:
Huhtakangas, Numminen, Pekkola, Niemelä, Korja: Screening of unruptured intracranial aneurysms in 50 to 60-year-old female smokers: a pilot study. Scientific Reports, 2021.
