Cavernous Carotid Aneurysms: You Can But Should You?

High-Flow Bypass with Radial Artery Graft for Cavernous Carotid Aneurysm

Cavernous carotid aneurysms can be managed by different surgical as well as endovascular methods. The aim of treatment is to exclude the aneurysm from circulation and maintain normal cerebral blood flow. We are reporting a case of incidentally detected CCA managed by high flow bypass with radial artery graft. We discuss the surgical technique and nuances of high flow bypass surgery.

Cavernous carotid artery aneurysms on a single institution: An epidemiological study with 201 patients

OBJECTIVES

Cavernous carotid aneurysms (CCA) represent 2-9% of all intracranial aneurysms. For long considered benign lesions, these entities are unique when it comes to clinical presentation and management. Usually asymptomatic, CCAs can grow and rupture causing different manifestations. The lack of a long-term assessment of both treated and untreated CCAs' natural history justifies why there is no consensus regarding what are the recommended therapeutic measures. While some advocate that an intervention is always necessary, others consider that patients deserve an individualized evaluation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We describe our single-institution experience in diagnosis, follow-up, and management of 201 CCAs. In addition, we evaluate the association of giant CCAs with aneurysms in other locations using a Chi-square test.

RESULTS

201 patients had 245 CCAs. 92% of the patients were women. The mean age at diagnosis was 61 years. Concomitant aneurysms were observed in 53.2% of the patients, and the middle cerebral artery was the most affected artery. 66 (30.6%) CCAs were considered "giant", and the follow-up period ranged from 1 to 23 years.The presence of a giant CCA seemed to hinder other aneurysms' formation - RR 0.47 (IC 95% 0.31-0.67), p < 0.0001.

CONCLUSIONS

CCAs should be individually assessed. A conservative approach ought to be adopted for asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic lesions. Finally, a multidisciplinary team must evaluate the other situations, in order to define whether the microsurgical or the endovascular treatment is better option. Presence of a giant lesion within the cavernous sinus is associated with less occurrence of other aneurysms.

Cavernous Carotid Aneurysms: To Do or Not To Do?

Cavernous carotid aneurysms (CCA) pose considerable dilemmas in management. It is still unclear as to whether an asymptomatic CCA should be subjected to treatment. Similarly, the ideal management strategy for a symptomatic aneurysm is controversial. We present the case of a 60-year-old female with a giant CCA and discuss the management issues.

Bilateral cavernous carotid aneurysms treated by two-stage extracranial-intracranial bypass followed by parent artery occlusion: case report and literature review

Bilateral cavernous carotid aneurysms (CCAs) are often not amenable to neurosurgical clipping or endovascular coiling. Here, we report the case of a 50-year-old female who presented with a 1-year history of gradual severe headache. Preoperative angiograms revealed bilateral CCAs. Among these findings, the right giant CCA had been trapped after the external carotid artery-saphenous vein-middle cerebral artery (ECA-SV-MCA) bypass 8 years prior. Additionally, the left CCA was again trapped after the internal maxillary artery-radial artery-middle cerebral artery (IMA-RA-MCA) bypass, followed by parent artery occlusion (PAO), because of the enlargement of a 0.4-cm aneurysm to a 1.3-cm aneurysm during the 5th to 8th years following surgery. Postoperative radiologic findings proved that the aneurysms disappeared with good graft patency of the bilateral anastomoses and excellent filling of the bilateral MCA territories. This is the first case of bilateral CCAs treated with two stages of bilateral high-flow extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass, including an IMA-RA-MCA bypass.