Clinical characteristics of intracranial aneurysms in elderly patents over 70 years old: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND: Although the characteristics of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in different age groups have been well documented, they remain relatively unclear in elderly patients due to a lack of large sample studies. METHODS: Data from IA patients aged more than 70 years who were treated in our centre from January 2016 to January 2020 were retrospectively collected. RESULTS: A total of 290 elderly patients (75.9% female) with a mean age of 74.0 ± 4.7 years were analysed. Rupture occurred in 60.7% of patients, 38.6% of whom presented with meningeal irritation, and seizures were noted in 2.3%. A total of 48.9% of the patients with ruptured IAs had initial symptoms presenting with slow development, and the mean delay from ictus was prolonged to 264.2 ± 914.0 hours. In addition, 61.9% of the patients with ruptured IAs had lesions with a maximum diameter of less than 5 mm. A total of 30.3% of the patients had multiple aneurysms, 35.5% had aneurysms with irregular shapes and 54.8% had cerebrovascular atherosclerotic stenosis (CAS). Pulmonary infection (n = 138, 47.6%), hydrocephalus (n = 72, 24.8%), and thrombosis (n = 35, 12.1%) were common complications during hospitalization. By the end of the 1-year follow-up, 22.1% of the patients had unfavourable clinical outcomes, and the mortality rate was 23.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Several characteristics regarding IAs in elderly patients were reported, including an obvious female predominance; mild, slow initial symptom development causing prolonged admission delay; a low incidence of meningeal irritation and seizures due to decreased electrophysiological activity of the neurons; increased percentages of CAS, multiple aneurysms, and aneurysms with daughter sacs causing a high risk of rupture even for small lesions; a high risk of complications during hospitalization; and relatively poor clinical outcomes.