Objective: The risk of rebleeding and the rate of retreatment are reportedly higher in ruptured cerebral aneurysms treated with endovascular coiling than in those treated with surgical clipping. In this study, we evaluated the frequency and risk factors of recanalization on angiograms after embolization of ruptured and unruptured cerebral aneurysms.
Methods: From April 2001 to December 2003, we performed endovascular embolization on 30 ruptured and 52 unruptured aneurysms. We included 18 ruptured and 40 unruptured aneurysms, which subsequently ruptured, underwent retreatment within 5 years, or were followed up for more than 5 years. We evaluated risk factors of recanalization in terms of location, size, ratio of dome to neck, volume embolization ratio (VER), and remnant flow into aneurysms immediately after embolization.
Results: Nine (50.0%) ruptured and 11 (27.5%) unruptured aneurysms were recanalized on angiograms. We attempted retreatment for 5 recurrent aneurysms, and were unsuccessful inserting any coils in 3 aneurysms. Recanalization on subsequent angiograms was rare in cases, that were not recanalized on angiograms at 6 months (ruptured aneurysms : 0% (0/6 cases), versus unruptured aneurysms : 6.7% (2/30 cases). VER was the significant risk factor in recanalization of unruptured aneurysms. There were significant differences between VER and recanalization in unruptured aneuryms (p=0.027), but no significant risk factor related to recanalization in ruptured aneurysms.
Conclusions: Recanalization of unruptured aneurysms was more frequent in cases of low VER than in cases of high VER. It is difficult to predict recurrence and rebleeding of ruptured aneurysms treated with high VER. Long-term results of both ruptured and unruptured aneurysms are considered favorable, if there is no recanalization on angiograms at 6 months.
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