Strategies to Prevent Ischemic Complications after Stent-assisted Coil Embolization of Cerebral Aneurysms

Discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy after stent-assisted coil embolisation of cerebral aneurysm: a nationwide cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Stent-assisted coil embolisation (SACE) for the treatment of unruptured cerebral aneurysms has been increasingly used. Long-term advantages of antiplatelet therapy (APT) post-SACE treatment are still not well understood. We investigated the long-term effects of APT on clinical prognosis after SACE.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study using nationwide health insurance claims data from South Korea, including patients with cerebral aneurysm treated with SACE from January 2009 to December 2020. The study outcomes consisted of the occurrence of cerebral infarction and major haemorrhage. To evaluate the impact of APT, we employed a multivariable time-dependent Cox proportional hazards regression model for each of the three distinct periods: 1-12 months, 12-24 months and >24 months after SACE.

RESULTS

This study included 17 692 unruptured cerebral aneurysm patients treated with SACE. During the mean follow-up of 4.2 years, there were 379 (2.1%) patients with cerebral infarction and 190 (1.1%) patients with major haemorrhage. The percentage of patients receiving APT was 79.5% at 1 year, which gradually decreased to 58.3% at 2 years after SACE. APT was beneficial in preventing cerebral infarction within 12 months after SACE (adjusted HR (aHR) 0.56; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.89; p=0.014). After 12 months, this association was not evident. APT increased the risk of haemorrhage after 24 months (aHR 1.76; 95% CI 1.11 to 2.87; p=0.016).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that in patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysm treated with SACE, the reasonable duration of APT for preventing cerebral infarction might be 1 year after SACE.

Efficacy and safety of endovascular coil embolization for unruptured middle cerebral artery aneurysms: middle-term clinical and imaging outcomes with 3 years mean follow-up periods, a 16-year experience

The anatomical characteristics of middle cerebral artery aneurysms make endovascular treatment difficult. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of endovascular treatment of unruptured middle cerebral artery aneurysm in preventing rupture. A retrospective review of patients who underwent coil embolization for unruptured middle cerebral artery aneurysm between 2006 and 2022 at Nagoya University Hospital with at least 12 months followed up was conducted. Imaging and clinical outcomes were described using the Raymond classification and the modified Rankin Scale, respectively. Good imaging outcome was defined as complete occlusion or neck remnant and clinical outcome as modified Rankin Scale score of 0-2. Patients were divided into initial and recurrent group based on the number of treatments, pre- and post-stent groups based on when stents became available in Japan. A total of 77 patients (80 with aneurysms) were included in the final analysis. Their average age was 60.3 years, and their average follow-up period was 38 months. Favorable clinical outcomes were achieved for 96.2% among 66 (97.0%) initial and 11 (91.7%) recurrent aneurysms. Furthermore, good imaging outcomes were obtained in 90.0 %, and 5% had permanent symptomatic ischemic complications. The pre-stent group had a significantly higher proportion of patients with narrow-neck aneurysms than the post-stent group. There were no significant differences in terms of imaging and clinical outcomes or complication rates. The present study demonstrated that endovascular treatment of unruptured middle cerebral artery aneurysm was safe and effective in preventing rupture. The wide-neck aneurysm was also well embolized by using adjunctive technique.