UC Davis

Objective

Endovascular treatment is the mainstay therapy for brain aneurysms. About 15% of patients need re-treatment within six months due to early recanalization. In this study, we investigate risk factors associated with treatment failure.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study includes endovascularly treated aneurysm cases between July 2012 and December 2015 at the University of California Davis Medical Center with pre-treatment and early post-treatment imaging. Thin cut 3D aneurysm volume rendering was used for morphologic analyses. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate differences between patients and clinical factors by treatment failure.

Results

Of the 50 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 41 (82.0%) were female, with an average age of 61 years. Most aneurysms were on the anterior communicating artery (40%) or posterior communicating artery (22.0%), and 34 (68%) aneurysms were ruptured. Early treatment failure was observed in 14 (28.0%) of endovascularly treated patients. Raymond-Roy class (RRC) was significantly associated with treatment failure (p = 0.0052), with 10 out of the 14 cases (71.4%) with early recanalization having an RRC of 3. Coil packing density did not associate with aneurysm recanalization (p = 0.61).

Conclusion

In our single institution series, patient characteristics, aneurysm characteristics, or coil packing density did not affect early aneurysm recanalization. RRC was the best predictor of early recanalization; however, further confirmation with additional studies are required. Although this study focused on early treatment failure, late recanalization has been shown with longer follow up. Further investigation into factors associated with late treatment failure will need further investigation. New intrasaccular devices and flow diverters will also likely play a role in reducing recurrence in the future as these treatments gain usage.