It started with a routine scan. You know the ones—those high-tech, full-body MRIs that celebrities like Kim Kardashian have been posting about for the last few years. But for Kim, the result wasn't just another "clean bill of health" to share with millions of followers.
During the Season 7 premiere of The Kardashians on Hulu, which dropped in late 2024, the SKIMS mogul dropped a bombshell that caught everyone off guard. She found a "little aneurysm" in her brain.
Wait. A brain aneurysm?
The news sent shockwaves through the fan base. People immediately started Googling if stress can actually cause a blood vessel in your head to balloon out. Honestly, the scene was pretty heavy. We saw Kim going into the MRI tube, looking vulnerable, and then later explaining to Kourtney that the doctors found something.
The Reality of the Kim Kardashian Aneurysm Diagnosis
So, what exactly did the doctors find? According to the show, Kim underwent a Prenuvo scan—that’s the elective, $2,500 full-body MRI she’s been championing. The report came back with a surprise. A small, unruptured intracranial aneurysm.
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"They were like, 'Just stress,'" Kim told her family.
She wasn't just talking about a busy work week. She was talking about the kind of bone-deep, soul-crushing stress that comes with a very public, very messy divorce from Kanye "Ye" West. She mentioned the pressure of co-parenting their four kids—North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm—and the "Stockholm Syndrome" she felt while trying to protect her ex-husband's image for years.
But here is where things get interesting from a medical standpoint.
Experts, like Dr. Adam Arthur from the University of Tennessee, have pointed out that stress doesn't technically cause an aneurysm to appear out of nowhere. It's usually a weakness in the artery wall you've had since birth or developed over time due to genetics or smoking. However, chronic stress spikes your blood pressure. And high blood pressure? That’s like blowing too much air into a balloon that already has a thin spot.
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It Wasn't Actually New
In a later episode that aired in November 2025, Kim shared an even more surprising update. It turns out, this Kim Kardashian aneurysm wasn't a brand-new development.
After the initial shock, she went to see a specialist—renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Keith Black at Cedars-Sinai. When they looked at her older scans from a few years prior, they realized it had actually been there the whole time. It just hadn't been flagged or it was so small it didn't trigger an alarm.
"Everything works out," she told Robin Roberts on Good Morning America.
Basically, the "scare" was more about the discovery than a sudden change in her health. Most people—about 1 in 50 in the U.S.—are walking around with these "little aneurysms" and never even know it. They usually don't rupture. They just sit there.
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Why Everyone Is Talking About "The Scan"
Kim’s diagnosis has reignited the debate over these "celebrity" full-body MRIs. On one hand, Kim calls it a "life-saving" PSA. On the other, some doctors are worried about "over-diagnosis."
When you scan a healthy person's entire body, you're going to find something. Usually, it’s a tiny cyst, a weird-looking shadow, or—in Kim's case—a small aneurysm that might never have caused a problem in her entire life. For some, this leads to "scanxiety" (the crushing anxiety of waiting for results) and unnecessary, risky surgeries.
What You Should Actually Do
If you're reading about the Kim Kardashian aneurysm and worrying about your own head, take a breath. Most small, unruptured aneurysms are just monitored with yearly scans.
Doctors generally look for "the worst headache of your life"—often called a thunderclap headache—as the primary red flag. If you don't have that, or vision changes like a drooping eyelid, you're likely not in immediate danger.
Actionable Steps for Your Health:
- Check Your Family History: If two or more "first-degree" relatives (parents or siblings) have had a brain aneurysm, tell your doctor. You might actually need a screening.
- Watch the Pressure: Since stress and high blood pressure are the "triggers" that make these things leak, keep an eye on your numbers. A $30 blood pressure cuff is a lot cheaper than a $2,500 MRI.
- Don't Panic Over "Incidental Findings": If you do get a scan and they find something "little," remember that "incidentalomas" (things found by accident) are often benign.
- Quit Smoking: It’s the single biggest controllable risk factor for making an aneurysm grow or burst.
Kim’s journey shows that even with all the money in the world, health scares happen. But it also proves that "knowledge is power" only if you have the right experts to help you interpret that knowledge without spiraling into a panic.