Sixteen-year single-surgeon experience with coil embolization for ruptured intracranial aneurysms: recurrence rates and incidence of late rebleeding

Abstract

Object Over a 16-year period, 570 patients presenting with acute aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage were successfully treated using endosaccular coil embolization within 30 days of hemorrhage by a single surgeon. Patients were followed to assess the stability of aneurysm occlusion and its longer-term efficacy in protecting against rebleeding. Methods Patients were followed for 6 to 191 months (mean 73.7 months, median 67 months) by clinical review, angiography performed at 6 and 24 months posttreatment, and questionnaires sent via the postal service every 5 years. Late rebleeding was defined as > 30 days after treatment. Results Stable angiographic occlusion was evident in 74.5% of small, 72.2% of large, and 60% of giant aneurysms. Recurrent filling was found in 119 (26.3%) of 452 aneurysms. Rebleeding was diagnosed in 9 patients (6 treated aneurysms) and occurred between 2 and 114 months posttreatment. It was due to aneurysm recurrence in 6 patients, rupture of a coincidental untreated aneurysm in 2 pati...