Wide-neck renal artery aneurysm: parenchymal sparing endovascular treatment with a new device

Renal artery aneurysm is a rare disorder with a high mortality rate in the event of rupture, the most frequent complication, which can also occur in lesions smaller than those indicated for treatment by current criteria. Surgery is still the first-line treatment, although a growing trend toward endovascular management of visceral artery aneurysms has emerged because of the high efficacy and low invasiveness that has been demonstrated by several authors. Treatment of wide-necked aneurysms and, depending on location, those at renal artery bifurcations or distal branches is more complex and may require invasive surgical techniques, such as bench surgery.

We describe the successful use of a new neurointerventional coil to treat an enlarging wide-necked segmental-branch renal aneurysm in an elderly woman who was not a candidate for surgery because of several comorbidities.

The technique described allowed safe, successful treatment of a wide-necked aneurysm in an unfavorable vascular territory, reducing the risk of downstream artery embolization and consequent parenchymal damage and decreased renal function. In similar cases, other endovascular devices have often proven to be ineffective at nephron sparing. To validate the safety and efficacy of this system, more cases treated in this manner should be studied.