Problems of Surgical Treatment for Multiple Intracranial Aneurysms

Abstract

 A series of 105 patients presenting with multiple aneurysms and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) were operated on for ruptured and unruptured aneurysms between 1976 and 1984. Clinical factors other than the severity of SAH affecting the outcomes included: 1) Misdiagnosis of the location of a ruptured aneurysm among multiple aneurysms resulted in poor outcomes because of multiple surgical approaches or rebleeding during the acute period. 2) Combinations of aneurysmal locations requiring multiple surgical approaches, such as interhemispheric and transsylvian, during the acute stage caused worse outcomes than with multi-stage surgeries. If an unruptured aneurysm could not be reached during the initial exposure, multi-stage surgery was safe if the ruptured aneurysm had been clipped during the acute period. 3) Complications occurring during unruptured aneurysm surgery. The patient's age, the location and size of the unruptured aneurysms were significant factors in the clinical prognosis. Surgery for unruptured aneurysm caused 1.8% morbidity in patients between 28 and 55 years, but 18.0% morbidity in patients over 56 years of age. Surgery for internal carotid artery aneurysms resulted in 14.8% overall morbidity. Surgery for middle cerebral and anterior cerebral artery aneurysms caused below 5% morbidity. Postoperative morbidity in patients with aneurysms less than 5 mm in diameter was 1.3%, and with aneurysms measuring 10 mm or more, 20%. The optimum treatment for multiple aneurysms with SAH should be based on all factors of the patient's condition, including the unruptured aneurysms.