CT SCAN, MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI), AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT)
This page is part of our Brain Aneurysm Resources hub and falls under Brain Aneurysm Imaging & Diagnosis. It is designed specifically for patients seeking clear, reliable, and easy-to-understand information about how CT scans, MRI, and MRA are used to detect, evaluate, and manage brain aneurysms and related complications.
Consult Brain Aneurysm Specialist, Dr. Manish Taneja
Brain aneurysm treatment calls for advanced technology and an experienced doctor. The Supreme Vascular and Interventional Clinic in Singapore is a regional destination for high-quality and compassionate care. Go beyond the basics of the meaning of a brain aneurysm condition, the causes, symptoms, signs, and more.
“Imaging is central to how we diagnose and manage brain aneurysms. CT scans allow us to quickly identify bleeding in emergencies, while MRI and MRA give us detailed information about the aneurysm itself, its size, shape, location, and relationship to surrounding vessels. Using the right imaging at the right time helps us make safer, more precise treatment decisions.” - Dr. Manish Taneja
Brain aneurysms can develop quietly over time and may remain undetected unless imaging is performed. Advanced imaging plays a critical role in identifying aneurysms before they cause harm, as well as in detecting bleeding, rupture, or changes that may increase risk. CT scans are often used first, especially in emergency situations, to rapidly detect bleeding in and around the brain. MRI and MRA provide more detailed views of brain tissue and blood vessels, allowing doctors to assess aneurysm size, shape, location, and growth over time. Together, these imaging tools help guide accurate diagnosis, risk assessment, treatment planning, and ongoing monitoring.
On this page, we focus on how CT scans, MRI, and MRA are used to diagnose brain aneurysms, distinguish normal from abnormal findings, evaluate rupture risk, and support timely, informed decision-making. The resources below explore how imaging helps doctors understand aneurysm behaviour, assess bleeding, and choose the most appropriate next steps in care whether urgent intervention or careful observation.
Understanding Aneurysm Size and Growth
Not all aneurysms pose the same risk. Imaging helps determine which aneurysms need close monitoring or treatment. To explore the full page, click on each article title.
🔹 Brain Aneurysm Sizes: What They Mean for Your Health
This article explains how aneurysm size influences monitoring strategies, rupture risk, and treatment decisions, helping patients understand what measurements on a scan really mean.
🔹 Brain Aneurysm Growth: How Fast Do They Grow or Change?
This guide discusses how aneurysms may grow over time and why regular imaging follow-up is important - even when no symptoms are present.
Understanding CT Scans, MRI, and MRA for Brain Aneurysms
Different imaging tools serve different purposes in both routine evaluation and emergency care.
🔹 Brain Aneurysm MRI and CT Scans
This overview explains how MRI and CT scans are used together to detect, evaluate, and monitor brain aneurysms at different stages.
🔹 What a Normal Brain CT Scan Looks Like and Why It Matters
This article helps patients understand normal versus abnormal CT findings, reducing unnecessary fear while improving clarity during diagnosis.
🔹 How CT Scans and MRI Produce Detailed Images of a Ruptured Brain Aneurysm
This guide explains how when a brain aneurysm ruptures, detailed images reveal bleeding, vessel damage, and pressure changes that guide life-saving treatment decisions.
🔹 Why CT Scans Are Critical in Brain Aneurysm Emergencies
This article highlights why CT scans are often the first imaging tool used when a ruptured aneurysm is suspected.
🔹 MRI vs MRA: Choosing the Right Imaging for Brain Aneurysms
This guide clarifies the differences between MRI and MRA and explains when each imaging method is recommended.
Preparing for Imaging and Specialist Consultations
Knowing what to expect can reduce anxiety and help patients make the most of their imaging and medical appointments.
🔹 Understanding Your First Brain Aneurysm Scan
This patient-friendly guide walks you through what happens before, during, and after your first brain aneurysm scan.
🔹 What to Expect During a Brain Aneurysm Screening: A Step-by-Step Guide
This article offers a clear, reassuring overview of the screening process, helping patients feel prepared and informed.
🔹 When Is It Time to See a Brain Aneurysm Specialist?
This guide explains when imaging results, symptoms, or risk factors warrant evaluation by a specialist for recommended candidates.
🔹 Things to Track Before Your Brain Aneurysm Specialist Appointment
This article helps patients prepare relevant symptoms, questions, and medical history ahead of their consultation.
Imaging for Prevention and Family Screening
Imaging is not only diagnostic. It is also a powerful preventive tool, especially for individuals with a family history of brain aneurysms.
🔹 The Role of Imaging in Preventing Brain Aneurysm Complications
This article explains how early imaging can detect aneurysms before rupture and reduce long-term complications.
🔹 Understanding Hereditary Brain Aneurysm Screening for Families
This guide covers when family members may benefit from proactive screening and what hereditary risk means for long-term brain health.
Understanding Brain Aneurysm Symptoms, Risks, and Prevention
The most effective way on how to prevent brain aneurysm is to reduce the risk of a brain aneurysm is to manage controllable risk factors and maintain long-term vascular health. While not all aneurysms can be prevented, controlling blood pressure, avoiding smoking, and addressing underlying medical conditions can significantly lower the risk of aneurysm formation and rupture. To better protect your brain health, understanding symptoms is just as important as prevention. Click on the sections below to learn more about early warning signs, symptoms in women, and signs of an unruptured and ruptured brain aneurysm.
Early Symptoms of a Brain Aneurysm
Brain aneurysms can be life-threatening, and early recognition of warning signs is crucial. Not all symptoms appear at once, and some may be subtle, but knowing what to look for can save lives.
Here are some possible early symptoms of an unruptured brain aneurysm and some individuals with an unruptured aneurysm may experience one or more of the following:
- Persistent or unusual headaches, especially those that feel different from your usual headache pattern
- Pain behind or around one eye
- Visual changes, including blurred vision, double vision, or difficulty focusing
- Facial numbness, tingling, or weakness
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Dizziness or balance problems
- Difficulty concentrating or subtle cognitive changes
- A general sense that something feels neurologically “off”
These symptoms do not mean that an aneurysm is about to rupture, and most people with these complaints do not have a brain aneurysm. However, new, unexplained, or progressively worsening neurological symptoms should always be assessed, particularly when they do not respond to usual treatments.
We’ve also compiled a collection of resources to help you understand the most common symptoms, risk factors, and considerations for different populations, empowering you to take timely action.
You can also read the full list of Brain Aneurysm warning signs and symptoms.
Unruptured Brain Aneurysm Symptoms
Unruptured Brain Aneurysm Symptoms Include:
- Numbness or weakness on one side of the face
- A drooping eyelid
- Headache
- Blurred or double vision
- Dilated pupil of one eye
- Pain behind and above one eye
Find out more here about the silent but not harmless unruptured brain aneurysm symptoms.
Ruptured Brain Aneurysm Symptoms
Ruptured Brain Aneurysm Symptoms Include:
- As in an unruptured brain aneurysm, blurred or double vision
- A severe, sudden headache, which patients often
- describe as the “worst headache of their life”
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Stiffness in the neck
- Extreme sensitivity to light
- Seizures
- Loss of consciousness
- Altered mental state or confusion
Note: If you believe someone displays symptoms of a ruptured brain aneurysm, you must seek medical assistance immediately. Timely diagnosis and treatment can improve the chances of survival and reduce severe complications due to a debilitating stroke, for example. Read more here about early and progressive ruptured brain aneurysm symptoms.
Brain Aneurysm Symptoms in Women
While there are no symptoms that occur only in women and not in men when it comes to brain aneurysms, women are approximately 2–3 times more likely than men to have an intracranial (brain) aneurysm. The difference becomes more pronounced after age 50, particularly post-menopause. Women also have a slightly higher lifetime risk of rupture.
Symptoms are determined by:
- Whether the aneurysm is ruptured or unruptured
- Its size and location
- Whether it is pressing on nearby nerves or brain tissue
Read how females have a higher risk and what are the key differences between men and women when it comes to brain aneurysms.
Explore the Full Brain Aneurysm Resource Library
For easy access to all of our educational materials, visit:
🔹 Your Guide to Exploring Our Brain Aneurysm Resources
This hub brings together everything you need to stay informed, whether you’re learning for yourself, supporting a loved one, or simply taking a proactive approach to brain health.
Take the Next Step Toward Protecting Your Brain Health
To understand how imaging findings guide treatment decisions, you might also be interested to explore our brain aneurysm treatment guide.
🔹 Brain Aneurysm Treatment in Singapore: How to Decide What’s Right for You
In some cases, advanced imaging such as cerebral angiography may also lead directly to minimally invasive treatments.
🔹 Endovascular Treatment: Brain Aneurysm Treatment Without Open Brain Surgery
If you have concerns about brain aneurysms, unexplained symptoms, or personal risk factors, a consultation with a specialist can offer clarity and peace of mind. You may consider scheduling a screening or consultation with Dr. Manish Taneja, brain aneurysm specialist our specialized brain aneurysm clinic in Singapore, the Supreme Vascular and Interventional Clinic. Early evaluation allows for timely detection, thoughtful guidance, and personalised care - often before complications arise.
It is estimated that about three percent of Singapore's population has a brain aneurysm. However, only very few of those aneurysms will rupture. A CT scan is one of many valuable ways of brain aneurysm detection. View all our Brain Aneurysm videos.
Put Brain Aneurysm on Your Health Radar
Did you experience the worst headache of your life? Could it be a brain aneurysm that ruptures, which means bleeding in the brain? Thoughts could be racing through your mind. Then what is the difference between unruptured (a weak or thin spot on an artery in the brain that balloons) or ruptured brain aneurysm? An unruptured brain aneurysm may cause subtle warning signs, such as pain or numbness on one side of the face, while symptoms of a ruptured brain aneurysm can include intense headache, loss of consciousness, and the leakage of blood into the cerebrospinal fluid when an aneurysm ruptures. If you’re wondering, then the Supreme Vascular and Interventional Clinic in Singapore is here to help. It’s important to look out for the tell-tale brain aneurysm symptoms, signs, causes, and risk factors.
At our specialized brain aneurysm clinic in Singapore, we help patients understand how conditions such as an arteriovenous malformation, high blood pressure, and weaknesses in the artery wall of a blood vessel or vessel in the brain can increase the risk of a brain aneurysm. Certain risk factors, including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and polycystic kidney disease (PKD), can further weaken blood vessels and raise the likelihood of rupture.
Dr. Manish Taneja has been performing brain aneurysm treatments offering personalized treatment options since 1995 from surgical clipping where the aneurysm is completely clipped to stop blood flowing into the weakened area, which prevents blood from re-entering the aneurysm sac and reduces the risk of future bleeding to latest minimally invasive procedures. Each patient is unique as is the size and location of the aneurysm. Your brain has different conditions to treat the aneurysm and artery vessel walls of a blood vessel in the brain. This calls for personalised brain aneurysm treatment depending on your symptoms, family, history, medication, and more. A simple CT scan could be just what the doctor ordered and the first step in early detection and prevention of a brain aneurysm. Come in for an easy consultation with our brain aneurysm specialist in Singapore to be on your health radar.
Other Health Conditions
The Supreme Vascular and Interventional Clinic is your "go-to" facility for various neurological conditions and pain management. To arrange an appointment with Dr. Manish Taneja, our brain aneurysm specialist, contact us. You can also call us at (+65) 6904 8084 for a consultation.