Intracranial arterial aneurysms: a review of neurosurgical results

The results of elective surgery for intracranial aneurysms are now excellent, with a 90% cure rate, but they do not reflect the overall results of treatment of aneurysmal pathology. Despite improvements in microsurgical techniques, these results remain disappointing (56.4% cured, 27.3% dead in the 1983 co-operative study, this is mainly due to the severity of the initial haemorrhage caused by rupture of the aneurysms, but also to the problems encountered in transferring patients, as quickly as possible, to a specialized surgical unit. Only an early care of symptomatic patients will improve these results by reducing the frequency of rebleeding and vasospasm. The most dangerous complications to which patients who survived the first haemorrhage are exposed.