Aneurismi intracranici problematici Chirurgia e terapia endovascolare a confronto

The surgical technique used for cerebral aneurysms is still considered a delicate procedure but surgeons' skill yields excellent results in the majority of regular aneurysms. Moreover, the endovascular treatment with detachable coils has become a routine procedure and at present the discussion about the best indication for treating the aneurysms is lively. We present our series of 361 aneurysms treated in six years with 267 surgical procedures and 94 endovascular treatments. The indication for endovascular treatment in our Department is usually put for aneurysms of the basilar trunk, basilar bifurcation, infraclionid tract of the Internal Carotid artery, in patients with higher H&H grade (3–4) and in older patients with poor general condition. The global mortality of endovascular cases was 21% while in the surgical series the global mortality was 15%. We must consider that 60% of endovascular cases were in grade 3–4 of Hunt&Hess while in the surgical series only 40% were in the same situation. Only 2.7% of the cases (10 patients) were a really difficult problem for each separate technique. In these cases a combination of surgical and endovascular procedure was adopted and in only five cases was it possible to treat the aneurysms properly. In our opinion, a combined approach can be useful only in some selected cases but we should take into account the fact that nowadays surgery has reached the upper limits of its technique while, on the contrary, the endovascular technology is still in progress.