British journal of neurosurgery
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In this descriptive study, we estimate the resource implications of screening 18-65 year-old first degree relatives of patients with a first degree family history of intracranial aneurysm (IA). A postal survey of 374 patients who underwent operative clipping of IA between July 1994 and June 1997 was performed, enquiring about first degree family history of IA and first degree family structure. The response rate was 68.2% (255/374). ⋯ The time required to screen the screenable population once would be 2.3 years by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and 1.1 years by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). In order to detect de novo aneurysms, screening has been suggested in this suspect population at 6-monthly to 5-yearly intervals after the initial study. In the absence of a biological marker, the results of our survey suggest that screening for familial IA disease would pose a significant logistical burden and have major financial implications for health care services.