Willis covered stent for treatment of ruptured blood blister-like aneurysms of supraclinoidal internal carotid artery

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficiency of endovascular Willis covered stent in treating ruptured blood blister-like aneurysms (BBAs) of supraclinoidal internal carotid artery. Methods During the period from December 2013 to December 2015, 13 patients with 15 ruptured BBAs of supraclinoidal internal carotid artery were treated with Willis covered stentsin Department of Interventional Radiology of Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji University. We retrospectively analyzed the patients'clinical data, endovascular treatment, surgicaloutcomes, complications and follow-up results. Results Thirteen stents were successfully delivered in thirteen patients with fifteen aneurysms. Immediate angiography after stent deployment revealed complete occlusion in 12 patients and minorendoleak in 1 patient, which had spontaneously resolved at the follow-up.In addition, occlusion of the ophthalmic artery was observedin 2 cases and occlusion of the anterior choroidal artery was demonstratedin 1 case without neurological dysfunctions. During the operation, no acute thrombosis, aneurysm rupture or other complications occurred in those patients. The mean follow-up period was 5.5±0.8 months (range 4-6 months). The follow-up angiography showed no stenosis in the parent arteryor aneurysm recurrence. Only two patients had mild to moderate asymptomatic in-stent stenosis. During the follow-up period, no bleeding or ischemic events were reported. The modified Rankin Scale was 0 in 8 patients and 1 in 5 patients. Conclusion Willis covered stentseems to be safe and effective for the treatment of ruptured BBAs of superclinoid internal carotid artery, which needs to be confirmedby longer follow-up and large-sample controlled studies. Key words: Intracranial aneurysm; Ruptured; Angioplasty; Covered stent; Blood blister-like aneurysm