Prevalence of Intracranial Saccular Aneurysms in a Japanese Community Based on a Consecutive Autopsy Series During a 30-Year Observation Period

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Abstract
Background and Purpose—Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a life-threatening disease that occurs mostly because of the rupture of intracranial saccular aneurysms. However, little is known about the prevalence of ruptured and unruptured aneurysms in the general population. The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence of intracranial aneurysms on the basis of a consecutive autopsy series over a 30-year observation period in a general Japanese population in Hisayama. Methods—We evaluated 1230 consecutive autopsy cases with craniotomy among the total deaths of Hisayama residents during 1962 through 1991 (overall autopsy rate, 80.1%). Results—A total of 73 intracranial saccular aneurysms were found in 57 cases (4.6%). The prevalence of aneurysms for women was 2.4 times higher than that for men (7.1% versus 2.9%). Among men, the prevalence of aneurysms remained unchanged across the range of age groups. In contrast, there were 2 peaks in the prevalence of aneurysms for women falling in the 40- to 49-year (...