Intracranial aneurysm (IA) is a common vascular disorder, which frequently leads to fatal vascular rupture leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Although various acquired risk factors associated with IAs have been identified, heritable conditions are associated with IAs formation but these syndromes account for less than 1% of all IAs in the population. Cerebral aneurysm disease is related to hemodynamic and genetic factors, associated with structural weakness in the arterial wall, which was acquired by a specific, often unknown, event. Possibly, the trigger moment of aneurysm formation may depend on the dynamic arterial growth, which is closely related to aging/ atherosclerosis. Genetic factors are known to have an important role in IA pathogenesis. Literature data provide complementary evidence that the variants on chromosomes 8q and 9p are associated with IA and that the risk of IA in patients with these variants is greatly increased with cigarette smoking. Intracranial aneurysms are acquired lesions (5-10% of the population). In comparison with sporadic aneurysms, familial aneurysms tend to be larger, more often located in the middle cerebral artery, and more likely to be multiple.

Abbreviations: DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid, FIA = familial Intracranial Aneurysm, GWAS = genome-wide association studies, IL-6 = interleukin-6, ISUIA = International Study of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms, IA = Intracranial aneurysm, mRNA = Messager ribonucleic acid, SNPs = single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SMCs = smooth muscle cells, sIAs = sporadic IAs, SAH = subarachnoid hemorrhage, TNF-α = tumor necrosis factor-alpha, COL4A1 = type IV collagen alpha-1