SMART coils for intracranial aneurysm repair - a single center experience

Due to uniform stiffness of standard platinum coils, dense packing of intracranial aneurysms can be difficult to achieve, since stiffer coils can cause microcatheter prolapse or coil migration. SMART coils have a varying softness along the length of the coils to improve deliverability. We report our initial 2 year experience with the SMART coil system, including direct and follow-up results.

We performed a retrospective study of all patients who underwent coil embolization of an intracranial aneurysm with SMART coils between July 2016 and August 2018 at our institution. We analyzed clinical and angiographic data before and directly after treatment as well as at 6 months follow-up.

A total of 49 patients harboring 49 aneurysms were treated; 23 (47%) were ruptured aneurysms. Most aneurysms (57%) were located in the anterior circulation. Median patient age was 55 (31-88), 63% were female. Mean aneurysm size was: neck 3.4 (±1.5), height 6.3 (±2.9) and width 5.2 (±2.3) mm. SMART coils were solely used in 96% of cases. Initial favorable angiographic results were achieved in 45 (92%) of 49 cases, which were stable at 6 months in 26/29 (90%). Thromboembolic complications occurred in 4 (8%) cases without clinical sequelae; microcatheter prolapse occurred in 1 case. No aneurysm rupture or device malfunction was observed.

The treatment of ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms with SMART Coils was safe and efficacious in our cohort.