Thursday, November 21, 2013

Long-term Follow-up of Blister Aneurysms of the Internal Carotid Artery

Long-term Follow-up of Blister Aneurysms of the Internal Carotid Artery
Neurosurgery - Current Issue

imageBACKGROUND:Blister aneurysms of the internal carotid artery (ICA) are uncommon. There is a paucity of data on the long-term outcomes of patients. OBJECTIVE:To review our experience with the treatment of these lesions. METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed all aneurysms treated at our institution between 1994 and 2005. Relevant operative notes, radiology reports, and inpatient/outpatient records were reviewed. RESULTS:Seventeen patients (3 male, 14 female) with 18 blister aneurysms of the ICA were identified. The mean age was 44.6 years (range, 17-72; median, 42 years). Twelve patients (70.6%) presented with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The mean admission Glasgow Outcome Scale score was 4.3 (range, 2-5; median, 5). All patients were initially treated using microsurgical technique with direct clipping (n = 15; 83.3%) or clip-wrapping with Gore-Tex (n = 3, 16.7%). There were 4 cases of intraoperative rupture, all associated with attempted direct clipping; all 4 cases were successfully clipped. Two cases rebled post-treatment. Both rebleeding episodes were managed with endovascular stenting. Follow-up angiography was available for 14 patients and revealed a new aneurysm adjacent to the site of clipping in 1 patient and in-stent stenosis in 2. At the mean follow-up of 74.5 months (median, 73; range, 7-165), the mean Glasgow Outcome Scale score was 4.6 (range, 2-5; median, 5). CONCLUSION:Microsurgical treatment of blister aneurysms of the ICA results in excellent outcome. In the evolution of treating these friable aneurysms, we have modified our clip-wrapping technique and use this technique when direct clipping is not feasible. ABBREVIATIONS:ICA, internal carotid arteryGOS, Glasgow Outcome Scal3e

Original Article: http://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/Fulltext/2013/12000/Long_term_Follow_up_of_Blister_Aneurysms_of_the.22.aspx

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