It has been estimated that 1.8% of women of childbearing age (16 to 44 years) develop intracranial aneurysms, however the incidence of unruptured intracranial aneurysms during pregnancy is not well established in the literature (25). Rupture of intracranial aneurysms occurs in the range of 1 to 10 per 100,000 pregnancies (1, 33). Case fatality from subarachnoid hemorrhage during pregnancy is reported as high as 83%, but outcomes have improved with better medical care (10, 12). Cerebrovascular management of aneurysms during pregnancy is complicated by the nature of maternal hemodynamics and their intimate relationship to the developing child. Given the dependence of the fetus on its mother, and the importance of a stable environment during fetal development, risk reduction from an intracranial aneurysm must clearly focus on both the mother and the child (39,40,42). Whether these aneurysms █
INTRODUCTIONAlthough intracranial aneurysms are uncommon during pregnancy, normal hemodynamic changes in pregnant women may increase vascular stress and the risk of aneurysm formation, progression and rupture (35,44,47). Systemically, maternal adaptations to pregnancy include increases in cardiac output (CO) and plasma volume (PV), and a redistribution of the CO between various organs (43). Cerebrovascular changes are thought to result from hormones that increase during pregnancy, such as estrogen, progesterone, and vascular endothelial growth factor (36). Other reported factors that may potentiate aneurysm progression during pregnancy include high levels of relaxin and increased wall tension from intraparenchymal artery hypoplasia (6, 51).Hemodynamic changes during pregnancy may favor the formation and rupture of intracranial aneurysms. Despite this risk, guidelines for managing intracranial aneurysms during pregnancy have not been clearly defined. The objective of this review is to describe the treatment options for pregnant women with intracranial aneurysms, and to report the maternal and fetal outcomes associated with different treatment strategies. A search of the literature was conducted using the PubMed database for the period January 1991 through June 2015. Aneurysm characteristics and management, pregnancy management, and maternal and fetal outcomes were evaluated. The most recent search was performed in June 2015. In total, 50 aneurysms (44 patients) were evaluated. Rupture was confirmed upon imaging in 36 aneurysms (72%), and most aneurysms ruptured during the third trimester (77.8%). Coil embolization was associated with a lower complication rate than clipping in patients with ruptured aneurysms (9.5% vs 23.1%). For patients with unruptured aneurysms, surgical management was associated with 31.9% fewer complications compared to no treatment. Most patients underwent Cesarean delivery (84%), and a combined neurosurgical-obstetrical procedure was used for 8 patients with ruptured aneurysms near term. Adverse outcomes were reported in 11.9% of children. Treatment of intracranial aneurysms during pregnancy is sa...