title: Age-related complications following endovascular treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The factors that led us to do the research for this paper was a desire to see if elderly patients did as well as non-elderly patients during endovascular intracranial aneurysm treatment. By doing this research, we could better stratify the most appropriate treatment for each patient with an aneurysm. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the incidence of procedural complications was greater in the elderly, defined as patients older than 65 years of age, compared with nonelderly patients undergoing elective endovascular treatment for intracranial aneurysms.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review was performed in patients undergoing elective endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms between 2000 and 2010 at 1 institution. "Minor complications" were defined as those resulting in minimal or no loss of function that resolved before dismissal; "major complications" were complications that resulted in loss of function or complications that required a subsequent invasive therapy. Major complications were further stratified into those with and without neurologic disability, defined as an mRS score of >3. T tests and χ(2) analyses were used to compare groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred fifty-five patients underwent 394 endovascular procedures treating 75 aneurysm recurrences and 319 untreated aneurysms. One hundred eight (30%) were elderly. There was no significant difference in the rate of complications in the elderly compared with the nonelderly (33% versus 26%, respectively; P = .18). Major complications were significantly more prevalent in the elderly than in the nonelderly (17% versus 7.4%, respectively, P = .004). Major complications with neurologic disability were also significantly more prevalent in the elderly compared with the nonelderly (8.2% versus 1.8%, respectively, P = .004).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Major functional complications were markedly more common in the elderly compared with the nonelderly.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Medical School, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khosla
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brinjikji
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cloft
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lanzino
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Kallmes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult