Endovascular treatment of multiple intracranial aneurysms

Abstract

Multiple intracranial aneurysms are difficult to treat. In order to investigate the effect and safety of endovascular treatment for multiple intracranial aneurysms, 54 consecutive patients with 116 multiple intracranial aneurysms treated with endovascular embolization were retrospectively enrolled. Angiography was performed immediately after embolization and at each follow-up. All clinical data were analyzed. Of the 116 aneurysms, 56 (48.3%) were embolized with coiling alone, 19 (16.4%) with stent-assisted coiling, 31 (26.7%) with stenting alone, and 10 (8.6%) with flow diverters plus coiling. After embolization, 31 (27.6%) aneurysms with stenting alone had no apparent change in size, and in the remaining 84 aneurysms, complete occlusion was achieved in 50 aneurysms (59.5%), near-complete occlusion in 26 (31.0%), and incomplete occlusion in 8 (9.5%). Thrombus formation at the aneurysm neck occurred in 3 patients (5.6%), coil protrusion in 2 (3.7%), and intraprocedural rupture in 1 (1.9%), resulting in a total complication rate of 11.1%. Follow-up angiography was performed in 44 (81.5%) patients 6 to 90 months (mean 49) later. Among 50 completely occluded aneurysms, 38 (76%) aneurysms remained completely occluded, and 4 (8%) aneurysms recurred. Among 26 aneurysms with initial near-complete occlusion, 12 (46.2%) aneurysms with neck remnant had progressive thrombosis to complete occlusion, 2 (7.7%) had no change compared with immediate occlusion, and 5 (19.2%) regrew. In conclusion, endovascular embolization with intracranial stenting and coiling is safe and effective and may play an increasingly important role in the management of multiple intracranial aneurysms.