Bypass-Assisted Microsurgical Clipping for an Endovascular Treatment-Resistant Ruptured Internal Carotid-Posterior Communicating Artery Aneurysm, Recurring Two Decades Postinitial Clipping: 2-Dimensional Operative Video.

Abstract

Salvage treatment of postclipping recurrent aneurysms remains challenging.1,2 The salvage microsurgical clipping is a possible intervention but sometimes difficult because of tissue adhesions around the aneurysm and previously installed clips; therefore, salvage coil embolization may have certain advantages.1-5 However, when coil embolization is not applicable,6 microsurgical clipping is a stand-alone curative treatment, requiring proficient and reliable microsurgical techniques. This article describes a unique case of a 70-year-old female patient complaining of a severe headache with subarachnoid hemorrhage due to a recurrent ruptured left internal carotid-posterior communicating artery aneurysm after microsurgical clipping 23 years ago. An initial attempt at coil embolization proved unsuccessful because of the aneurysm shape. Consequently, the salvage microsurgical clipping was planned. Given the additional time for trapping the internal carotid artery for the old clip removal, a superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass was also planned. The operation entailed a superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass, a Sylvian fissure dissection, the old clip removal, and aneurysm clipping. Intraoperatively, the complete aneurysm neck clipping was successfully performed without any complication, and patient postoperative course was uneventful. A wide surgical field should be obtained to be able to manipulate the aneurysm and old clip safely under a microscope. It is also important to temporarily trap the main artery to ensure removal of old clips and to prepare for intraprocedural ischemia using bypass after a precise assessment of hemodynamics before surgery. The patient provided informed consent for the procedure and the publication of the case along with its pertinent imaging, and this report was approved by the institutional review board at our hospital.