Arnolda Marija Baškytė1, Agnė Kavaliauskaitė1, Saulius Lukoševičius2
1 Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas Lithuania
2 Department of Radiology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas Lithuania
ABSTRACT
The aim: To analyze diagnostic and treatment data of ruptured cerebral aneurysms to evaluate the advantages, disadvantages, and effects of the treatment methods on the patient’s life expectancy.
Methods: The data of 80 patients, who had a rupture of a cerebral aneurysm, underwent a radiological examination at the HLUHS KK department of Radiology and treatment at the departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery in 2015-2018 were analyzed.
Results: The average age of the patients was 58,36 ± 13,89 of women and 53,83 ± 16,05 of men. Totally 174 radiological examinations were performed: CT – 41,38%, CT angiography – 41,95%, digital subtraction angiogram – 16,67%. Ruptured aneurysms were most commonly treated using surgical clipping – 65,91%, endovascular embolization – 31,82%, and just a few times conservative treatment was used – 2,27%.
Conclusions: 1. 40-60 years old patients were most commonly diagnosed with a rupture of the anterior communicating artery aneurysm, with no significant difference between genders (p = 0.256). 2. The most common short-term symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm were severe headache, nausea, vomiting, unconsciousness, vasospasm, long-term symptoms – biosocial dysfunction, hemiparesis, hemiplegia, disorientation. 3. The primary diagnostic method was CT angiography; if the origin of symptoms was unclear, digital subtraction angiogram was required. 4 The surgical clipping is a dominant method of treatment with a higher risk of postoperative complications, while endovascular treatment has a higher probability of reoperations.
Keywords: cerebral aneurysm, digital subtraction angiogram, CT angiography, endovascular coiling, surgical clipping, subarachnoid hemorrhage.