Analysis of 223 ruptured intracranial aneurysms with special reference to rerupture.

A review of 223 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms, including 46 with rerupture, showed that the operability rate was higher and the prognosis better in patients with one rupture. Rerupture cases with low Hunt--Hess grades (0--II) had no better prognosis than one-rupture cases of grade IV. The mean interval between first rupture and rerupture was 12 days. Aneurysms located in the vertebrobasilar system showed the highest rate of rerupture. Daughter and bled-shaped aneurysms had a greater tendency to rerupture. The incidence of rerupture was increased in patients with narrowly localized vasospasm and acute hydrocephalus. Time-course studies of factors of the coagulating and fibrinolytic system suggested their usefulness in predicting the occurrence of vasospasm, infarction, and rerupture and the prognosis of patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms. Patients at high risk for rerupture of aneurysm should undergo early operation.