A Study of the Association Between Carotid Artery Curvature and Intracranial Aneurysms

Carotid artery curvature is considered a sign of a weak vessel wall, and we hypothesize that a weak vascular wall under the effect of hemodynamics may cause intracranial aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The general data of 534 patients with aneurysms and 473 control patients were retrospectively analyzed in a case-control study. Carotid artery curvature was characterized as none, tortuosity, kinking, and coiling by computed tomography angiography images. Univariate analysis was performed to determine the degree of carotid artery tortuosity and to analyze the general data between the aneurysm group and the control group, and then, multivariate statistical logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the statistical significance of the univariate analysis. Finally, the correlation between aneurysm-related features and carotid artery curvature was analyzed. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that kinking was significantly related to the occurrence of intracranial aneurysms (P=0.009). The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that kinking was an independent risk factor for the occurrence of aneurysms (odds ratio: 1.942; 95% confidence interval: 1.387-2.720 for model 1; odds ratio: 1.995; 95% confidence interval: 1.419-2.805 for model 2). In the analysis of the correlation between the characteristics of intracranial aneurysms and the curvature of the internal carotid artery, there was no correlation between the curvature of the internal carotid artery and the size, location or number of aneurysms, or whether the intracranial aneurysm was ruptured. CONCLUSION: Intracranial aneurysms are associated with carotid artery curvature. Kinking of the internal carotid artery may indicate a higher risk for aneurysm formation.