Surgical treatment of a basilar perforator aneurysm not accessible to endovascular treatment

Aneurysms originating from perforatoring branches of the midbasilar artery are extremely rare. Rupture of such an aneurysm resulted in a subarachnoid hemorrhage with a prepontine clot in a 44 year old male who presented with an acute confusional state. After coil embolization had failed, the partially thrombosed aneurysm was wrapped and coagulated via a combined supra-/infratentorial subtemporal presigmoid approach in prone position. The postoperative course was complicated by a tension pneumatocephalus and liquorrhea. Additional aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery and right middle cerebral artery were clipped several months later. The patient recovered well, and except for slight gait ataxia no other deficit remained.