ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the safety and efficiency of the treatment strategy based on three-dimensional digital subtraction angioplasty (3 D-DSA) for the side selection of pterional approach to clip anterior communicating artery aneurysm. Methods All 75 continuous patients with single anterior communicating artery aneurysm(Hunt-Hess 0-III grade) treated by microsurgical clipping via the pterional approach were analyzed retrospectively. The side selection of approach was based on 3D-DSA. All patients' gender, age, Hunt-Hess grade, aneurysm size, the side of approach, complications, the length of postoperative stay, the ratio of complete occlusion, and the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) score at discharge were collected. The ratio of complete occlusion and clinical outcome were analyzed according to the group of left or right approach and different Al dominant approach. Results (1) Fifty-six patients (74. 7%) were left Al dominants, with 30 of those treated via the left-side approach and 26 of those treated via the right-side approach. Nineteen patients (25.3%) were right Al dominants, with 15 of those treated via the right-side approach and 4 of those treated via the left-side approach. (2) Surgical exposure of all aneurysms was satisfactory during operation, which was consistent with the 3D-DSA image simulation before the operation. The median length of postoperative stay was 9(8, 11) days. Six patients(8. 0%) suffered symptomatic cerebral infarction, and 1 patient (1.3%) had an intracranial infection. Sixty-five cases performed DSA or CT antigraphy after the operation. Sixty-two aneurysms (95.4%) were completely clipped and 3 aneurysms (4.6%) existed residual segments in the neck of the aneurysm. Sixty-nine patients (92.0%) reached 5 grade of GOS, 3 patients (4.0%) reached 4 grade of GOS, 3 patients (4.0%) reached 3 grade of GOS, and no patient was below 3 grade of GOS at discharge. (3) The surgical-related complications, clipping results, hospital-stay time after operation, and GOS at discharge were insignificantly different between left and right side approach, also insignificantly different between the dominant Al side and contralateral side approach. Conclusion The treatment strategy, based on preoperative 3D-DSA imaging simulation for the side selection of pterional approach to clip anterior communicating artery aneurysms, was safe and effective.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the accuracy of multislice computerized tomographic angiography (MCTA) in the postoperative evaluation of clipped aneurysms by comparising it with three dimensional digital subtraction angiography (3D-DSA). METHODS: Between May 2004 and September 2006, we included patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysm of the anterior circulation that was surgically clipped and evaluated by both postoperative MCTA and postoperative 3D-DSA. We measured the diagnostic performance and calculated the sensitivity and specificity of postoperative MCTA compared to 3D-DSA in the detection of aneurysm remnants. RESULTS: A total of 11 neck remnants among the 92 clipped aneurysms (11.9%) were confirmed by 3D-DSA. According to Sindou's classification of aneurysm remnants, 8.7% of clipped aneurysms (8/92) had only neck remnant on 3D-DSA and 3.2% (3/92 aneurysms) had residuum of the neck and sac on 3D-DSA. There were 12 (13.04%) equivocal cases that were difficult to interpret based on the postoperative MCTA. The reasons for the equivocal cases included multiple clips (6 cases, 50.0%), beam-hardening effect (4 cases, 33.3%), motion artifact (1 case, 8.3%), fenestrated clip (1 case, 8.3%) and other combined causes. The sensitivity and specificity of the postoperative MCTA was 81.8% and 88.9%, respectively, by ROC curve (p=0.000). CONCLUSION: MCTA is an accurate noninvasive imaging method used for the assessment of clipped aneurysms in the anterior circulation. If the image quality of postoperative MCTA is good quality and the patient has been treated with a single titanium clip, except a fenestrated clip, the absence of an aneurysm remnant can be diagnosed by MCTA alone and the need for postoperative DSA can be reduced in a large percentage of cases.