[Long-term cognitive deficits in patients operated on for cerebral aneurysm by craniotomy and clipping]

An important number of patients continue to present cognitive disorders after cerebral aneurysm surgeries, not only within the acute phase but also years after the subarachnoid hemorrhage and in spite of their good functional recovery.

The percentage of patients who continues to present cognitive alterations after 4 years of cerebral aneurysm surgery is studied within a sample of people who had pterional craniotomy and ICA clipping (Intracranial Aneurysm Clips). The repercussions on their daily life activities and quality of life are also considered and we analyze how are these deficits related to the cerebral location of the aneurysm.

Twenty-nine adults of both sexes, without cognitive disorder or psychiatric precedents who had an aneurysm surgery in different cerebral locations.

All the patients were independent in their daily life activities. The majority of the patients had good neurological resolution four years after the surgery and their cognitive performances were within the normality. Nevertheless, there is a small group that continues to present cognitive performances below what was expected for their age and educational level. The performances in cognitive tasks of attention, temporalspatial orientation, visual naming, memory, auditory verbal learning, visual-constructive skills and executive function do not depend on the cerebral location of the aneurysm.