Walsh & Hoyt: Tumors

The most common tumors associated with aneurysms are pituitary adenomas and meningiomas. Most patients with an intracranial tumor and an aneurysm initially develop symptoms and signs from the tumor. Neuroimaging studies may identify an asymptomatic aneurysm. Several mechanisms could account for the occurrence of an intracranial neoplasm and aneurysm in the same patient. A vascular neoplasm, such as a meningioma, might increase local cerebral blood flow and predispose affected vessels to aneurysm formation. Patients with acromegaly from a growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma might have disruption ofconnective tissue, leading to formation of multiple aneurysms, or ectasia of intracranial arteries. The association of an aneurysm with a pituitary tumor in the multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome could be mediated by the endocrine disturbance. It seems likely, however, that most, if not all, cases of intracranial aneurysm and neoplasm are coincidental.