Stent-assisted coiling of wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms with a branch incorporated in the aneurysm base: long-term follow-up in 49 patients with 53 aneurysms.

PURPOSE: Wide-neck bifurcation intracranial aneurysms (WNBA) with a branch incorporated in the aneurysm base remain difficult to treat by embolization. We aim to report our long-term follow-up of stent-assisted coiling (SAC) in this subgroup of patients. METHODS: This study was approved by our local ethical committee. A retrospective review of our prospectively maintained database identified all patients treated in our institution by SAC for a WNBA with a branch incorporated in the aneurysm base. Technical issues, immediate, long-term outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS: Between 2007 and 2015, 49 patients with 53 intracranial aneurysms (IAs) (52 unruptured, 1 ruptured) were identified and successfully treated. No morbidity/mortality occurred. The incorporated branch was preserved in all patients but one who was treated during a vasospasm phase. At the first 6-month imaging control, the branch was patent. Immediate occlusion was near-complete in 11/53 aneurysms (20.8%), neck remnant in 20/53 aneurysms (37.7%), and incomplete in 22/53 aneurysms (41.5%). Available imaging follow-up of 47 IAs, ranging from 3 to 84 months (mean 26 months ± 19.6 months), showed 27 progressive thrombosis (57.4%), 17 stable occlusions (36.2%), 1 minor recanalization (2.1%), and 2 significant recanalizations that were retreated (4.3%). The latest imaging control showed 30 near-complete occlusions (63.8%), 13 neck remnants (27.7%), and 4 incomplete occlusions (8.5%). CONCLUSION: Stent-assisted coiling is safe and effective for the treatment of WNBA with a branch incorporated in the aneurysm base. Despite poor immediate anatomical results, long-term follow-up shows a high rate of progressive thrombosis achieving adequate and stable occlusion in most patients.