• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.270-274
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• 2008

Objective : The purpose of this study was to report the morbidity, mortality, angiographic results, and merits of elective coiling of unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Methods : Ninety-six unruptured aneurysms in 92 patients were electively treated with detachable coils. Eighty-one of these aneurysms were located in the anterior circulation, and 15 were located in the posterior circulation. Thirty-six aneurysms were treated in the presence of previously ruptured aneurysms that had already undergone operation. Nine unruptured aneurysms presented with symptoms of mass effect. The remaining 51 aneurysms were incidentally discovered in patients with other cerebral diseases and in individuals undergoing routine health maintenance. Angiographic and clinical outcomes and procedure-related complications were analyzed. Results : Eight procedure-related untoward events (8.3%) occurred during surgery or within procedure-related hospitalization, including thromboembolism, sac perforation, and coil migration. Permanent procedural morbidity was 2.2%; there was no mortality. Complete occlusion was achieved in 73 (76%) aneurysms, neck remnant occlusion in 18 (18.7%) aneurysms, and incomplete occlusion in five (5.2%) aneurysms, Recanalization occurred in 8 (15.4%) of 52 coiled aneurysms that were available for follow-up conventional angiography or magnetic resonance angiography over a mean period of 13.3 months. No ruptures occurred during the follow-up period (12-79 months). Conclusion : Endovascular coil surgery for patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms is characterized by low procedural mortality and morbidity and has advantages in patients with poor general health, cerebral infarction, posterior circulation aneurysms, aneurysms of the proximal internal cerebral artery, and unruptured aneurysms associated with ruptured aneurysm. For the management of unruptured aneurysms, endovascular coil surgery is considered an attractive alterative option.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.116-123
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• 2008

Objective : The objective of this study is to investigate clinical characteristics, management methods and possible causes of intracranial fusiform aneurysm. Methods : Out of a series of 2,458 intracranial aneurysms treated surgically or endovascularly, 22 patients were identified who had discrete fusiform aneurysms. Clinical presentations, locations, treatment methods and possible causes of these aneurysms were analyzed. Results : Ten patients of fusiform aneurysm were presented with hemorrhage, 5 patients with dizziness with/without headache, 4 with ischemic neurologic deficit, and 1 with 6th nerve palsy from mass effect of aneurysm. Two aneurysms were discovered incidentally. Seventeen aneurysms were located in the anterior circulation, other five in the posterior circulation. The most frequent site of fusiform aneurysm was a middle cerebral artery. The aneurysms were treated with clip, and/or wrapping in 7, resection with/without extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass in 6, proximal occlusion with coils with/without EC-IC bypass in 5, EC-IC bypass only in 1 and conservative treatment in 3 patient. We obtained good outcome in 20 out of 22 patients. The possible causes of fusiform aneurysms were regard as dissection in 16, atherosclerosis in 4 and collagen disease or uncertain in 2 cases. Conclusion : There is a subset of cerebral aneurysms with discrete fusiform morphology. Although the dissection or injury of internal elastic lamina of the cerebral vessel is proposed as the underlying cause for most of fusiform aneurysm, more study about pathogenesis of these lesions is required.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.314-319
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• 2008

Objective: For patients with giant or dissecting aneurysm, multimodal treatment consisting extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery plus clip or coil for parent artery occlusion may be necessary. In this study, the safety and efficacy of multimodal treatment in 15 patients with complex aneurysms were evaluated retrospectively. Methods: From January 1995 to June 2007, the authors treated 15 complex aneurysms that were unable to be clipped or coiled. Among them, nine patitents had unruptured aneurysms and 6 had ruptured aneurysms. Aneurysms were located in the internal cerebral artery (ICA) in 11 patients (4 in the dorsal wall. 4 in the terminal ICA, 1 in the paraclinoid, and 2 in the cavernous ICA), in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in 2, and in the posterior circulation in two patients Results: Fifteen patients with complex aneurysms were treated with bypass surgery previously. Thirteen patients were treated with external carotid middle cerebral artery (ECA-MCA) anastomosis, and one patient with superficial temporal to posterior cerebral artery (STA-PCA) and another patient with occipital artery to posterior inferior cerebellar artery (OA-PICA) anastomosis. Parent artery occlusion was then performed with a clip in 9 patients, with a coil in 4, with balloon plus coil in one patient. All 15 aneurysms were successfully treated with clip or coil combined with bypass surgery. Follow-up angiograms showed good patency of anastomotic site in 10 out of 11 patients, and perfusion study showed sufficient perfusion in 6 out of 9 patients. Conclusion: These findings indicate that for patients with complex aneurysms, clip or coil for parent vessel occlusion with additive bypass surgery can successfully exclude the aneurysm from the neurovascular circulatory system.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.518-526
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• 2017

Objective : Thromboembolism is the one of the most serious complications that can occur during endovascular coil embolization of cerebral aneurysm. We report on the effectiveness and safety of intra-arterial/intravenous (IA/IV) glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (tirofiban) infusion for treating thromboembolism during endovascular coil embolization of cerebral aneurysm. Methods : We performed a retrospective analysis of 242 patients with ruptured or unruptured cerebral aneurysms (n=264) who underwent endovascular coil embolization from January 2011 to June 2014. Thromboembolism occurred in 20 patients (7.4%), including 14 cases of ruptured aneurysms and 6 cases of unruptured aneurysms. The most common site of aneurysms was the anterior communicating artery (n=8), followed by middle cerebral artery (n=6). When we found an enlarged thromboembolism during coil embolization, we tried to dissolve it using tirofiban administered via IA and IV loading ($5{\mu}g/kg$, respectively) for 3-5 minutes followed by IV maintenance ($0.08{\mu}g/kg/min$) for approximately 4-24 hours. Results : In 4 of 5 patients with total vessel occlusion, the vessel was recanalized to Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction Perfusion Scale (TICI) grade 3, and in 1 patient to TICI grade 2a. In 2 patients with partial vessel occlusion and 13 patients with minimal occlusion, the vessel recanalized to TICI grade 3. Irrelevant intracerebral hemorrhage was noted in 1 patient (5%), and thromboemboli-related cerebral infarction developed in 5 patients (25%), of which only 1 (5%) was symptomatic. Conclusion : IA/IV infusion and IV maintenance with tirofiban appear to be an effective rescue treatment for thromboembolism during endovascular coil embolization in patients with ruptured or unruptured cerebral aneurysms.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2009

Objective : The aim of study was to review our patient population to determine whether there is a critical aneurysm size at which the incidence of rupture increases and whether there is a correlation between aneurysm size and location. Methods : We reviewed charts and radiological findings (computed tomography (CT) scans, angiograms, CT angiography, magnetic resonance angiography) for all patients operated on for intracranial aneurysms in our hospital between September 2002 and May 2004. Of the 336 aneurysms that were reviewed, measurements were obtained from angiograms for 239 ruptured aneurysms by a neuroradiologist at the time of diagnosis in our hospital. Results : There were 115 male and 221 female patients assessed in this study. The locations of aneurysms were the middle cerebral artery (MCA, 61), anterior communicating artery (ACoA, 66), posterior communicating artery (PCoA, 52), the top of the basilar artery (15), internal carotid artery (ICA) including the cavernous portion (13), anterior choroidal artery (AChA, 7), A1 segment of the anterior cerebral artery (3), A2 segment of the anterior cerebral artery (11), posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA, 8), superior cerebellar artery (SCA, 2), P2 segment of the posterior cerebral artery (1), and the vertebral artery (2). The mean diameter of aneurysms was $5.47{\pm}2.536\;mm$ in anterior cerebral artery (ACA), $6.84{\pm}3.941\;mm$ in ICA, $7.09{\pm}3.652\;mm$ in MCA and $6.21{\pm}3.697\;mm$ in vertebrobasilar artery. The ACA aneurysms were smaller than the MCA aneurysms. Aneurysms less than 6 mm in diameter included 37 (60.65%) in patients with aneurysms in the MCA, 43 (65.15%) in patients with aneurysms in the ACoA and 29 (55.76%) in patients with aneurysms in the PCoA. Conclusion : Ruptured aneurysms in the ACA were smaller than those in the MCA. The most prevalent aneurysm size was 3-6 mm in the MCA (55.73%), 3-6 mm in the ACoA (57.57%) and 4-6 mm in the PCoA (42.30%). The more prevalent size of the aneurysm to treat may differ in accordance with the location of the aneurysm.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.545-551
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• 2009

Objective : Complex aneurysms such as fusiform and very small aneurysms (< 3 mm) are challenging in neurovascular and endovascular surgery. Author reports follow-up results of 9 cases treated by sole stent technique with pertinent literature review. Methods : A retrospective study was made of 9 patients who were treated by sole stenting technique for cerebral aneurysm between January 2003 and January 2009. Two of them had fusiform aneurysm, 5 had very small aneurysm, and 2 had small saccular aneurysm. Five patients had ruptured aneurysms and four had unruptured aneurysms. Seven aneurysms were located in the internal carotid artery (ICA), 1 in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and 1 in the basilar artery. Follow-up cerebral angiography was performed at post-procedure 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Mean follow-up period is 30 months (ranged from 3 days to 30 months). Results : Aneurysm size was decreased in 6 of 9 cases on follow-up images and was not changed in 3 cases. Although total occlusion was not seen, patients had stable neurological condition and angiographic result. The procedural complication occurred in 2 cases. One was coil migration and the other was suboptimal deployment of stent, and both were asymptomatic. Re-bleeding and thromboembolic complication had not been occurred. Conclusion : Sole stenting technique is relatively effective and safe as an alternative treatment for fusiform and very small aneurysms.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.137-152
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• 2020

In spite of the developing endovascular era, large (15-25 mm) and giant (>25 mm) wide-neck cerebral aneurysms remained technically challenging. Intracranial flow-diverting stents (FDS) were developed to address these challenges by targeting aneurysm hemodynamics to promote aneurysm occlusion. In 2011, the first FDS approved for use in the United States market. Shortly thereafter, the Pipeline of Uncoilable or Failed Aneurysms (PUFS) study was published demonstrating high efficacy and a similar complication profile to other intracranial stents. The initial FDA instructions for use (IFU) limited its use to patients 22 years old or older with wide-necked large or giant aneurysms of the internal carotid artery (ICA) from the petrous segment to superior hypophyseal artery/ophthalmic segment. Expanded IFU was tested in the Prospective Study on Embolization of Intracranial Aneurysms with PipelineTM Embolization Device (PREMIER) trial. With further post-approval clinical data, the United States FDA expanded the IFU to include patients with small or medium, wide-necked saccular or fusiform aneurysms from the petrous ICA to the ICA terminus. However, IFU is more restrictive in South Korea than in United States. Several systematic reviews and meta-analyses have sought to evaluate the overall efficacy of FDS for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms and consistently identify FDS as an effective technique for the treatment of aneurysms broadly with complication rates similar to other traditional techniques. A growing body of literature has demonstrated high efficacy of FDS for small aneurysms; distal artery aneurysms; non-saccular aneurysms posterior circulation aneurysms and complication rates similar to traditional techniques. In the short interval since the Pipeline Embolization Device was first introduced, FDS has been firmly entrenched as a powerful tool in the endovascular armamentarium. As new FDS are developed, established FDS are refined, and delivery systems are improved the uses for FDS will only expand further. Researchers continue to work to optimize the mechanical characteristics of the FDS themselves, aiming to optimize deploy ability and efficacy. With expanded use for small to medium aneurysms and posterior circulation aneurysms, FDS technology is firmly entrenched as a powerful tool to treat challenging aneurysms, both primarily and as an adjunct to coil embolization. With the aforementioned advances, the ease of FDS deployment will improve and complication rates will be further minimized. This will only further establish FDS deployment as a key strategy in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.437-441
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• 2010

Objective : The precise intra- vs. extradural localization of aneurysms involving the paraclinoid internal carotid artery is critical for the evaluation of patients being considered for aneurysm surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of T2-weighted threedimensional (3-D) fast spin-echo (FSE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the evaluation of unruptured paraclinoid aneurysms. Methods : Twenty-eight patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms in their paraclinoid regions were prospectively evaluated using a T2- weighted 3-D FSE MR imaging technique with oblique coronal sections. The MR images were assessed for the location of the cerebral aneurysm in relation to the dural ring and other surrounding anatomic compartments, and were also compared with the surgical or angiographic findings. Results : All 28 aneurysms were identified by T2-weighted 3D FSE MR imaging, which showed the precise anatomic relationships in regards to the subarachnoid space and the surrounding anatomic structures. Consequently, 13 aneurysms were determined to be intradural and the other 15 were deemed extradural as they were confined to the cavernous sinus. Of the 13 aneurysms with intradural locations, three superior hypophyseal artery aneurysms were found to be situated intradurally upon operation. Conclusion : High-resolution T2-weighted 3-D FSE MR imaging is capable of confirming whether a cerebral aneurysm at the paraclinoid region is intradural or extradural, because of the MR imaging's high spatial resolution. The images may help in identifying patients with intradural aneurysms who require treatment, and they also can provide valuable information in the treatment plan for paraclinoid aneurysms.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.568-571
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• 2009

Accessory middle cerebral artery (MCA) is an infrequent vascular anomaly of the brain. Cerebral aneurysms associated with this anomalous artery are also very rare. To our knowledge, there have only been ten previous reports of an aneurysm associated with accessory MCA. The authors present two patients with accessory MCA-related aneurysms. A 38-year-old male and a 59-year-old female both presented with sudden-onset severe headache. In both patients, computed tomography (CT) scan revealed subarachnoid hemorrhage. A subsequent angiogram demonstrated an accessory MCA arising from the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and a saccular aneurysm at the anterior communicating artery (ACoA) complex associated with an accessory MCA. Surgical clipping allowed for complete exclusion of the aneurysm from the arterial circulation. Based on our review of the ten cases of aneurysms associated with accessory MCA documented in the literature, we suggest that accessory MCA-related aneurysms can be classified according to whether the accessory MCA originates from the proximal A1 segment or from the ACoA complex. We also emphasize the importance of precise interpretation of preoperative angiograms and intraoperative precaution in determining the presence of this anomalous artery prior to temporary clip placement.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.281-285
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• 2007

Objective : Distal anterior cerebral artery (DACA) aneurysms are fragile and known to have high risks for intraoperative premature rupture and a relatively high associated morbidity. To improve surgical outcomes of DACA aneurysms, we reviewed our surgical strategy and its results postoperatively. Methods : A total of 845 patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms were operated in our hospital from January 1991 to December 2005. Twenty-three of 845 patients had ruptured DACA aneurysms which were operated on according to our surgical strategy. Our surgical strategy was as follows; early surgery, appropriate releasing of CSF, appropriate surgical approach, using neuronavigating system, securing the bridging veins, using temporary clipping and/or tentative clipping, meticulous manipulation of aneurysm, and using micro-Doppler flow probe. Twenty of 23 patients who had complete medical records were studied retrospectively. We observed the postoperative radiographic findings and checked Glasgow Outcome Scale score sixth months after the operation. Results : Nineteen DACA aneurysms were clipped through a unilateral interhemispheric approach and one DACA aneurysm was clipped through a pterional approach. Postoperative radiographic findings revealed complete clipping of aneurysmal neck without stenosis or occlusion of parent arteries. In two patients, a residual neck of aneurysm was visualized. Seventeen patients showed good recovery, one patient resulted in moderate disability, while 2 patients died. Conclusion : With our surgical strategy it was possible to achieve acceptable surgical morbidity and mortality rates in patients with DACA aneurysms. Appropriate use of tentative clipping, temporary clipping and neuro-navigating systems can give great help for safe approach and clipping of DACA aneurysm.