Management of severe internal carotid stenosis with unruptured intracranial aneurysm / 北京大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the safety and feasibility of endovascular treatment for severe internal carotid artery stenosis (≥70%) with unruptured intracranial aneurysms.@*METHODS@#We retrospectively reviewed 213 cases with severe stenosis or occlusion of internal carotid artery, and those patients had been treated at Peking University Third Hospital, between January 2012 and July 2015. In the study, 14 (6.6%) cases were coexistence with unruptured intracranial aneurysms. The medical records, imaging data, treatment and prognosis were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#There were 15 aneurysms (11 after the stenosis, 1 before the stenosis, and 3 in the other drainage basin) in those 14 patients with severe stenosis or occlusion of internal carotid artery. One of the 14 patients underwent carotid endarterectomy, and the 11 patients were successfully implanted with an internal carotid stent (residual stenosis 0-30%, mean 6.4%). Two patients with internal carotid artery stenosis remained untreated. One of them had complete occlusion of the initial segment of the internal carotid artery and was not possible to be treated, and the other patient refused to treat with internal carotid stenosis. The sizes of aneurysms were 1.0-7.0 mm, with an average of (2.8±1.5) mm. Three cases were treated with stenosis and aneurysms treated at the same time, and stent assisted coil embolization was performed in all the aneurysms, including 1 case that treated aneurysm before the stenosis. One patient refused surgical treatment of unruptured aneurysm, and no treatment was given to 10 patients who had small unruptured aneurysms (<5.0 mm). No perioperative complications were observed during the perioperative period. Three cases were lost with the follow-up, and the other 11 patients were followed up for 15-55 months, with a median of 37 months, and had good prognosis.@*CONCLUSION@#Our results suggest that patient coexistance with severe internal carotid stenosis and unruptured intracranial aneurysms should be treated individually according to the location and size of aneurysms. Moreover, the presence of a small intracranial aneurysm (<5.0 mm) does not seem to increase the risk of endovascular stenosis in patients with severe internal carotid stenosis.