HLA antigens and intracranial aneurysms.

The frequencies of the HLA-A, -B and -DR were determined in a group of 59 transplant donors who died from subarachnoid haemorrhage within three days following the rupture of intracranial aneurysm (the SAH group) and compared with those of a control group consisting of 389 donors who died from other causes. The only significant difference was in the increased frequency in the SAH group of non-typed ("empty")-DR loci in association with the DR7 phenotype. The most probable explanation of this finding is that in the SAH group the frequency of DR7 homozygotes is several times higher than in the general population, and that bearing the DR7 allele in homozygotic form is associated with a very high risk of developing potentially fatal intracranial aneurysmal haemorrhage.