Spontaneous thrombosis of an intracranial aneurysm

A case of spontaneous thrombosis of a previously ruptured anterior communicating artery aneurysm is reported. The patient was referred by another hospital to our service 4 months after the bleeding episode. He had developed a symptomatic normal pressure hydrocephalus, successfully treated by ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Follow-up angiographies, the first performed 4 months and the second 1 year after the bleeding, did not show the aneurysm. Furthermore, the parent artery was not occluded. The literature relative to the subject is reviewed and the possible mechanisms of spontaneous thrombosis are discussed.