What are the chances of surviving a brain aneurysm?

What are the chances of surviving a brain aneurysm?

People can go their entire lives not knowing they have an unruptured brain aneurysm. As long as it’s intact, your odds are good. But there is a risk that the brain aneurysm will rupture, which depends on many factors, including aneurysm size, location and several others. If an aneurysm does rupture, it leaks blood into the space surrounding your brain and sometimes into the brain tissue itself, causing a hemorrhagic stroke.

A ruptured brain aneurysm requires emergency medical treatment. As more time passes with a ruptured aneurysm, the likelihood of death or disability increases. About 75% of people with a ruptured brain aneurysm survive longer than 24 hours. A quarter of the survivors, though, may have life-ending complications within six months.

Call 911 or go to an emergency room if you think you are having symptoms of a brain aneurysm or ruptured aneurysm. The sooner you can get medical attention, the greater your chance of survival.