Staged Approach for Stent-Assisted Coiling of Cerebral Aneurysms after Failure of Initial Intra-Saccular Catheterization.

Purpose: Microcatheter navigation into an aneurysm sac can present difficulties through negative interactions between the deployed stent mesh and microcatheter. We hypothesized that endothelialization of the stent mesh would minimize these interactions. We aimed to assess the feasibility of staged coiling after stenting by reviewing our experiences with unavoidably staged embolization cases.

Materials And Methods: Between 2011 and 2019, 7 patients (mean age 57.2 years, range 49-76 years) including 5 females, experienced 9 unruptured aneurysms treated with staged stenting and coiling due to unstable microcatheter navigation into the aneurysm after stent placement. The aneurysms were in the paraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA) (n=3), ophthalmic origin ICA (n=1), superior cerebellar artery origin (n=2), basilar tip (n=2), and the middle cerebral artery bifurcation (n=1). The stents used were the Neuroform Atlas (n=4), Neuroform EZ (n=2), and Low-profile Visualized Intraluminal Support Blue (n=1).

Results: The mean interval between stenting and coiling was 15 weeks (range, 12-21 weeks). The average navigation time between the first roadmap imaging and microcatheter insertion in the sac was 14 minutes (range, 8-20 minutes). One aneurysm was occluded without further coiling on follow-up. Staged coiling successfully treated the remaining aneurysms (n=8). No complications were identified.

Conclusion: In cases of difficult intra-saccular catheterization, intentional staged coiling may be a feasible option for stent-assisted coiling of the cerebral aneurysms.