Kim Kardashian Has Had A Brain Aneurysm For Years - How Common Is It?

Kim Kardashian made headlines when she revealed on the November 20, 2025, episode of "The Kardashians" Season 7 that after going for a Prenuvo scan, she learned she had a brain aneurysm. "They called me today, and they're like, 'Everything looks great. But you have an aneurysm in your brain,'" Kim explained to her older sister, Kourtney Kardashian (via People). "They're like, 'It's been there for like years. It was here a few years ago,'" she added. 

According to Kim, upon contacting brain surgeon Dr. Keith Black, he advised her to come in so he could take a look, noting that stress can cause aneurysms to rupture. Suffice to say, Kim is not exactly known for taking it easy. "I'm definitely worried about Kim. She has so much going on between work and her four kids, that I don't want her to have an aneurysm, of course," Kourtney later said in a confessional about her sister's medical news. 

Fortunately, Kim's not all alone in her plight, as brain aneurysms are fairly common. And as it turns out, genetics also influences the likelihood of a brain aneurysm, as do certain lifestyle behaviors.

According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, one person in every 50 is currently walking around with an unruptured brain aneurysm. "[Aneurysms] are more common than you think," Cleveland Clinic neurosurgeon Dr. Nina Moore told NBC News in 2025. "A lot of the natural history studies may not actually know the full incidence rate of how many aneurysms there are because we don't just screen everyone," she added. "If we screened everyone, I'm sure we'd find a lot more."

It should be noted, however, that a family history of brain aneurysms can increase a person's chances of developing one, as can certain lifestyle factors. "The most well-described risk factors include a predisposition [family history of aneurysm], high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, inflammation," Dr. Laura Stein, an associate professor of neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told the news outlet. 

According to neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist Dr. Robert M. Starke, catching brain aneurysms early is key. "If these lesions are found, they can be treated if they're high risk or monitored for growth if low risk," he explained in a blog post (via Jackson Health System). Ultimately, that could mean the difference between an aneurysm and a stroke for a patient. 

As you may recall, in 2023, "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke publicly revealed that she's "missing" parts of her brain after aneurysms, one of which ruptured, resulting in a stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage. "Strokes — as soon as any part of your brain doesn't get blood for a second, it's gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit it's missing is therefore gone," Clarke explained during a 2022 appearance on BBC's "Sunday Morning Live" (via Entertainment Tonight). Still, she counted herself lucky, noting that she is part of a "really, really, really small minority of people" who have overcome such a life-threatening medical emergency.