Endovascular treatment of posterior cerebral artery aneurysms: a single center's experience of 55 cases

OBJECTIVE Aneurysms of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) are uncommon. To date, a limited number of studies have examined the outcomes of endovascular treatment for PCA aneurysms. The authors' aim in this study is to report their experience with the endovascular treatment of PCA aneurysms. METHODS Between January 2007 and December 2014, 55 patients with 59 PCA aneurysms were treated using the endovascular approach at the authors' institution. Twenty-three patients had 25 saccular aneurysms, and 32 patients had 34 fusiform/dissecting aneurysms. The endovascular modalities included the following: 1) selective occlusion of the aneurysm (n = 22); 2) complete occlusion of the aneurysm and the parent artery (n = 20); 3) parent artery occlusion (n = 6); 4) partial coiling of the aneurysm and the parent artery (n = 5); and 5) occlusion of the dissecting aneurysm sac (n = 2). RESULTS The immediate angiographic results included 45 complete occlusions (82%), 2 nearly complete occlusions (4%), and 8 incomplete occlusions (14%). The mean follow-up period of 21.8 months in 46 patients showed 37 stable results, 6 further thromboses, and 3 recurrences. The final results included 41 complete occlusions (89%), 2 nearly complete occlusions (4%), and 3 incomplete occlusions (7%). Procedure-related complications included the following: 1) rebleeding (n = 1); 2) infarction (n = 4); and 3) perforation (n = 1). There was 1 (1.8%) procedure-related death due to rebleeding, and 2 (3.6%) non procedure-related deaths due to severe subarachnoid hemorrhage. Clinical outcomes were excellent (Glasgow Outcome Scale 5) in 47 of 49 patients at the long-term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS PCA aneurysms may be effectively treated by different endovascular approaches with favorable clinical and radiological outcomes. However, patients who present with severe SAH still have an overall poor prognosis. Partial coiling of the aneurysm and the parent artery is an attractive alternative treatment for patients who may not tolerate parent artery occlusion. Further study with a larger case series is necessary for validation of the durability and efficacy of this treatment.