Individual management of recurrent intracranial aneurysms: the Wuxi experience

Recurrent intracranial aneurysms can occur after either surgical clipping or endovascular therapy. In this article, we present a consecutive series of 18 patients who underwent individual treatment for recurrent aneurysms after primary coil embolization or surgical clipping. During an 8-year period between May 1997 and December 2005, 18 patients underwent individual treatment for recurrent aneurysms. Clinical data and imaging studies of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. Out of the 18 patients, 13 had recurrent aneurysms located in the anterior circulation, and 5 had aneurysms of the posterior circulation. Treatment consisted of coiling in 16 patients and clipping in two patients. Of the 18 patients, 15 achieved a good or excellent recovery, two were paralyzed, and one died post-treatment. Both the surgical clipping and endovascular embolization for the treatment of recurrent intracranial aneurysms can achieve very good radiological results with low mortality rates. One of the key points for the successful treatment of this kind of lesions is the proper, individual, and interdisciplinary patient selection.