What Is The Difference Between A Clot And An Aneurysm?

Blood clots come in two varieties: a blood clot can block a blood vessel from the inside or a blood clot can accumulate in or around the brain. When a blood clot is lodged inside a blood vessel, it can block the blood flow causing an acute ischemic stroke. This kind of stroke is an absolute emergency because there are treatments, both medical and procedural, to break up or remove the blood clot and restore blood flow.

When a blood clot forms from a blood vessel bleeding, the blood that accumulates outside of the blood vessel in or around the brain becomes a blood clot. In this case the blood clot is referred to as a hemorrhage or hematoma. This situation is also an emergency, but is treated in different ways than blockage of a blood vessel, this time with blood pressure control, diagnostic tests to figure out what caused the hematoma in the first place, and brain surgery to remove the hematoma if it is large enough to put pressure on important parts of the brain.

An aneurysm is different from a blood clot in that it is a defect in the wall of a blood vessel that can bleed. If an aneurysm in the brain bleeds, it usually causes a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which results in a blood clot in the subarachnoid space surrounding the brain. This is a very dangerous situation because it can result in increased pressure in the brain and requires immediate treatment. Fortunately, there are good treatments for surgical treating an aneurysm to make sure it does not bleed again. If an aneurysm is discovered incidentally, it can also be treated to prevent it from bleeding in the first place. Sometimes aneurysms are discovered accidentally and, if they are small, monitored without surgery to make sure they do not grow.