Can you get Social Security disability for Aneurysms?

If you have suffered an aneurysm you may be entitled to Social Security disability benefits. As an Indianapolis Social Security disability attorney, I advise clients to go forward with their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claim if they are unable to work because of the after-effects of an aneurysm.

What an aneurysm is

An aneurysm is a blood-filled bulge in an artery that forms where the artery wall has weakened. Aneurysms can develop anywhere in the body, but the ones that most often cause severe problems, and can be fatal, occur in the aorta and in the arteries of the brain. In the aorta, this includes the thoracic aorta in the chest and the abdominal aorta, which is the most common site of all.

Common causes include atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, trauma, infection, and connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome. Many aneurysms cause no symptoms at all and are found incidentally, which is part of what makes them dangerous.

Where your aneurysm is located determines how Social Security evaluates your claim, and the two main locations are handled under entirely different parts of the Listing of Impairments.

Aortic aneurysm: listing 4.10

An aneurysm of the aorta or its major branches is addressed at listing 4.10, within Section 4.00, Cardiovascular System.

Here is the part that surprises most claimants. Simply having an aneurysm of the aorta does not meet listing 4.10, no matter how large it is or how closely it is being monitored. The listing requires an aneurysm due to any cause, demonstrated by appropriate medically acceptable imaging, with dissection not controlled by prescribed treatment.

An aneurysm is dissecting when the inner lining of the artery begins to separate from the arterial wall. Social Security considers a dissection to be not controlled when you have persistence of chest pain due to progression of the dissection, an increase in the size of the aneurysm, or compression of one or more branches of the aorta supplying the heart, kidneys, brain, or other organs.

This is a demanding standard, and it means many people with serious aortic disease will not meet the listing. Someone whose aneurysm was successfully repaired, or whose dissection is stable on medication, generally will not meet 4.10.

There is a further step worth taking before you fall back on residual functional capacity. Social Security provides that where an aneurysm does not meet 4.10 but has caused heart failure, kidney failure, or neurological complications, those conditions are evaluated under their own listings. If your dissection has compromised the blood supply to your heart, kidneys, or brain, the resulting damage may meet a listing even though the aneurysm itself does not.

Where none of that applies, the claim is still far from over, and the section below on residual functional capacity is usually where these claims are won.

Brain aneurysm: listing 11.04

A brain aneurysm is not evaluated under 4.10. Social Security has no separate listing for brain aneurysm at all. Instead, a ruptured brain aneurysm is treated as a vascular insult to the brain under listing 11.04, in Section 11.00, Neurological Disorders. Social Security defines a vascular insult to the brain as brain cell death caused by an interruption of blood flow, or by a hemorrhage from a ruptured blood vessel or aneurysm in the brain.

Listing 11.04 is met in one of three ways, each of which must persist for at least three consecutive months after the event:

• 11.04A — sensory or motor aphasia resulting in ineffective speech or communication.
• 11.04B — disorganization of motor function in two extremities causing an extreme limitation in the ability to stand up from a seated position, balance while standing or walking, or use the upper extremities.
• 11.04C — marked limitation in physical functioning together with marked limitation in one of the four areas of mental functioning: understanding, remembering, or applying information; interacting with others; concentrating, persisting, or maintaining pace; or adapting or managing oneself.

The three-month rule is worth understanding before you file. Social Security generally needs evidence from at least three months after the vascular insult to evaluate motor functioning under 11.04B or the effects on your physical and mental functioning under 11.04C. In some cases a claim can be allowed sooner, but otherwise the decision may be deferred until that evidence exists. This is a common source of frustration for people who apply immediately after a rupture and hear nothing for months.

A ruptured brain aneurysm may result in symptoms including double vision, speech problems, and cognitive difficulties. Where those effects extend beyond what 11.04 covers, other listings can come into play. Seizures following an aneurysm are evaluated under listing 11.02, cognitive and mental health effects may be evaluated under Section 12.00, and vision loss resulting from the vascular insult is evaluated under Section 2.00.

If you do not meet a listing

Most aneurysm claims are not decided at the listing step, and that does not make them weak. When no listing is met or equaled, Social Security assesses your residual functional capacity, meaning what you can still do despite your condition. Whichever route applies, your condition also has to have lasted, or be expected to last, at least twelve months.

For an unrepaired or partially repaired aortic aneurysm, this often centers on activity restrictions your doctors have imposed. Clinical guidance commonly limits heavy lifting and strenuous exertion to reduce the risk of rupture or dissection. Those restrictions are medically necessary, and they can rule out a great deal of past work. Make sure they are written into your records rather than simply understood between you and your doctor.

After a ruptured brain aneurysm, the lasting effects are often what prevent work even when recovery has gone reasonably well. Fatigue, reduced concentration, memory problems, headaches, speech difficulties, and balance problems are all common, and depression or anxiety following the event is common too. The inability to maintain concentration and pace across a full workday can be enough to support a successful claim. Our pages on stroke and brain injury go into these lasting effects in more detail, since Social Security assesses all of them within the same framework.

Your age, education, and work history matter at this stage too. A claimant of 50 or older with no transferable skills is in a considerably stronger position than a younger claimant with identical limitations, and at 55 the vocational rules shift again in the claimant’s favor. Since June 22, 2024, Social Security also looks only at work performed in the previous five years rather than fifteen.

Be sure Social Security knows about every condition you have. The agency is required to consider the combined effect of all your impairments, and after an aneurysm that combination is often what carries the claim.

The medical evidence your claim needs

For an aortic aneurysm, the records that matter most usually include:

• Imaging such as CT, MRI, or angiography showing the size and location of the aneurysm
• Documentation of any dissection and whether it has progressed
• Surgical or endovascular repair records
• Written activity restrictions from your treating physician

For a brain aneurysm, the records that matter most usually include:

• Brain imaging confirming the hemorrhage and its extent
• Neurological examination findings from at least three months after the event
• Speech and language evaluations, where communication is affected
• Neuropsychological testing measuring memory, concentration, and processing
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapy progress notes

Talk with an Indiana disability attorney about your aneurysm claim

If you have suffered an aneurysm and the after-effects are keeping you from working, you may be entitled to Social Security disability benefits.

Which listing applies to you depends on where the aneurysm was, and the two routes need completely different evidence. An aortic claim turns on imaging, dissection, and written activity restrictions. A brain aneurysm claim turns on what the rupture left behind, three months and more after the event.

I represent Indiana residents at every stage, from the initial application through a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.