title: Endovascular treatment of posterior inferior cerebellar artery aneurysms: a 7-year single-center experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report our experience with endovascular treatment of posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) aneurysms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 2007 and December 2014, 40 patients with 42 PICA aneurysms were treated with endovascular embolization at our institution. Twenty-eight patients had 29 saccular aneurysms and 12 patients had 13 fusiform/dissecting aneurysms. The endovascular modalities were: (1) selective occlusion of the aneurysm with or without stent assistance (n=19); (2) occlusion of the aneurysm and the parent artery (n=22); and (3) occlusion of the aneurysm including the vertebral artery and PICA origin (n=1). Specifically, selective embolization was performed in 93.3% of aneurysms (14/15) proximal to the telovelotonsillary segment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immediate angiographic results included 31 complete occlusions (74%), 3 nearly complete occlusions (7%), and 8 incomplete occlusions (19%). Mean follow-up of 20 months in 31 aneurysms showed 27 stable results, 3 further thromoboses, and 1 recurrence. Final results included 27 complete occlusions (87.1%) and 4 incomplete occlusions (12.9%). There were 5 overall procedural-related complications (12.5%), including 1 infarction (2.5%) and 4 intraprocedural ruptures (10.0%). Procedure-related morbidity and morbidity was 5.0% (2/40) and 2.5% (1/40), respectively. Clinical outcome was excellent (Glasgow Outcome Scale 5 in 31 of 33 patients at long-term follow-up).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PICA aneurysms may be effectively treated by different endovascular approaches with favorable clinical and radiologic outcomes. Further studies are required to compare the safety and efficacy of endovascular treatment with open surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yongtao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Leng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Aneurysm