[Multiple cerebral aneurysms disclosed by subarachnoid hemorrhage. Apropos of 60 cases]

In a series of 60 consecutive patients, 137 multiple aneurysms (An) were discovered after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Multiple An were mostly double (83 % of the patients). The incidence of middle cerebral artery An was 42 %, internal carotid artery An 25.5 %, anterior communicating artery An 15 %. Both angiography (A degree) and CT scan could identify the ruptured An in 56 cases or at least the side of the ruptured An in the remaining 4 cases. Among the routine A degree criteria used to determine which one of the An had bled the most reliable ones appears to be: the existence of vasospasm of the parent artery, the bigger size of the sac, the irregular wall of the sac. The incidence of rupture is the highest in anterior communicating artery An (16/21). When an An located on the polygon of Willis is associated to a distal An, the former ruptures in 17 cases/18. All ruptured An were treated during the first operative session. In 47 patients (78.3%) all the An, ruptured and asymptomatic, were treated during the first procedure or in one or two additional surgical sessions. In 13 patients (22.7%) for several reasons only ruptured An and asymptomatic An that could be reached via the same craniotomy were treated. There was no morbidity or mortality related to the surgical treatment of asymptomatic An.