Effects of Intracranial Interventional Embolization and Intracranial Clipping on the Cognitive and Neurologic Function of Patients with Intracranial Aneurysms

Abstract

Background: Intracranial interventional embolization and intracranial clipping have been two typical therapies for the emergent rescue of intracranial aneurysm. However, there are still controversies over the impact of these two surgical treatments of aneurysms on cognitive and neurological functions of patients.

Methods: A total of 144 patients with intracranial aneurysms were enrolled as the test subjects, who were randomly and evenly divided into the Intracranial Clipping group and the Interventional Embolization group. Cognitive and neurologic functions were evaluated by Glasgow Outcome Scale, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scales, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to analyze the serum levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S100β.

Results: There were no significant differences in the preoperative MMSE, MoCA, NIHSS or ADL scale between two groups (p > 0.05). However, after operation, the MMSE and MoCA scores of the interventional embolization group were significantly higher, whereas the NIHSS and ADL scales were significantly lower than those of the intracranial clipping group (p < 0.05). The levels of NSE and S100β in the intracranial clipping group were significantly higher than in the interventional embolization group.

Conclusion: Intracranial interventional embolization exerts better effects on the cognitive and neurologic functions than intracranial clipping.

Keywords: Cognitive and neurological function; Intracranial aneurysm; Intracranial clipping; Intracranial interventional embolization.