Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of stent-assisted embolization of ruptured wide-necked intracranial aneurysms during acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).
Materials and methods: Institutional review board approval for this retrospective study was obtained; the need to obtain informed consent was waived. Results in 61 consecutive patients (20 men, 41 women; mean age, 55.1 years; range, 26-83 years) with acutely ruptured wide-necked intracranial aneurysms who were treated with stent-assisted coil embolization were evaluated. The mean length of angiographic follow-up was 12.1 months (range, 0-52 months). Statistical analysis was performed to determine whether the features of the patient and the ruptured aneurysm affected the primary angiographic result or the patient's clinical outcome. Categoric and dichotomous variables were examined with the chi(2) test or the Fisher exact test; the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis were used to compare continuous-scale data for non-normally distributed variables.
Results: The technical success rate was 72% (44 of 61). The technique-related complication rate was 21% (13 of 61), and the 30-day mortality rate was 20% (12 of 61). There was only one case of rebleeding, and clinical outcome was good for the majority of the patients (69% [42 of 61] had Glasgow Outcome Scale scores of 4 or 5 at the end of the study period).
Conclusion: Stent-assisted coil embolization is a feasible method for the endovascular treatment of wide-necked intracranial aneurysms that are difficult to treat surgically or with balloon-assisted embolization during acute SAH. The risk of subsequent rerupture of the aneurysm seems to be reduced for aneurysms treated early compared with that for nonsecured aneurysms.