Prevalence and predictors of intracranial aneurysms in patients with bicuspid aortic valve.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and outcomes of intracranial aneurysm (IA) in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV).

METHODS: Retrospective review of patients with BAV who underwent brain MR angiography at the Mayo Clinic from 1994 to 2013.

RESULTS: There were 678 patients included in this study-mean age 57±13 years, men 480 (71%), mean follow-up 10±3 years (5913 patient-years). Coarctation of aorta (COA) was present in 154 (23%) patients.There were 59 IAs identified in 52 of 678 patients (7.7%). IA was present in 20/154 patients (12.9%) with COA and 32/524 patients (5.7%) without COA (p<0.001). For the patients without COA, female gender and right-left cusp fusion were risks factors for IA in women after adjustment for all potential variables (HR 1.76, CI 1.31 to 2.68, p=0.03). There was no significant trend in the risk for IA across age tertiles: age ≤40 years versus 41-60 years (HR 1.19, p=0.34), and age 41-60 years versus 61-80 years (HR 1.06, p=0.56).Among the 52 patients with IA, enlargement occurred in three patients (6%), rupture in two patients (4%) and four patients (8%) underwent coil embolisation. For the 626 patients without IA at baseline, no patient developed IA over 7±2 years of imaging follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: BAV is associated with a higher prevalence of IA compared to the general population, and this risk is higher in patients with COA, right-left cusp fusion and female gender.