METHODS: This case series was conducted in the neurosurgical service at a tertiary care hospital in Denver, Colorado. Nine patients were electively treated for intracranial aneurysms. All patients had a single low porosity stent reconstruction device placed across the neck of a small intracranial aneurysm. The main outcome measures were changes in aneurysm size and parent vessel morphology during follow-up.
RESULTS: Nine patients underwent stent alone treatment for unruptured intracranial aneurysms. The mean follow-up period was 9.6 months (range 6-17 months). There were no cases of periprocedural morbidity or aneurysm rupture during follow-up. All aneurysms decreased in size, and 3 of 9 aneurysms were gone at follow-up. In addition, at follow-up all parent vessels demonstrated straightening about the aneurysm site.
CONCLUSIONS: Beneficial remodeling with a decrease in the size of small intracranial aneurysms may be seen after treatment with a single stent alone, particularly if the aneurysm arises at an arterial bend or bifurcation. This phenomenon may be related to a degree of straightening of the parent artery, improving hemodynamic conditions about the aneurysm site.