Abstract
The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate and compare the feasibility, indication and limitations of two treatment options, clipping and coil embolization, for basilar artery (BA) bifurcation aneurysms. During the last 13 years, 117 patients with 117 BA bifurcation aneurysms were treated exclusively with direct surgery until February 1997, and with either direct surgery or coil embolization therapy since March 1997. Of them, 76 (65%) aneurysms were treated with direct clipping and 41 (35%) were treated with Guglielmi detachable coils (GDCs) embolization. The 76 surgically clipped aneurysms were analyzed on the basis of the pre-operative angiograms as to whether coil embolization would be feasible or not if each case had been attempted. The 41 embolized aneurysms, on the other hand, were analyzed as to whether clipping surgery would be feasible or not if it had been attempted. In the total 117 aneurysms, complete coil obliteration was judged to be possible and simple in 61 (52%) aneurysms, possible with complex techniques (difficult) in 29 (25%) and impossible in 27 (23%). Whereas, complete obliteration with direct clipping was judged to be simple in 66 (57%) aneurysms, difficult in 38 (32%) and impossible in the remaining 13 (11%). Linear correlation as to the technical difficulty was found in 61 (52%) aneurysms, but 14 (12%) had marked discrepancy between the two methods. Of the 76 patients treated with clipping surgery, 17 (22%) were left with some post-operative neurological deficits, and in six out of the 17 aneurysms, embolization might have been simple. There were complications in two patients; one procedure-related and the other with late re-bleeding due to aneurysmal re-growth, in the embolization, group. Endovascular therapy is an effective alternative for treating BA bifurcation aneurysms, although a quarter of the cases cannot be obliterated completely. It is important to select a suitable treatment option in each case depending on the patient's condition and the angiographical features of each aneurysm as well as the characteristics of the two methods.
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