External Validation of the PHASES Score in Patients with Multiple Intracranial Aneurysms

This study sought to assess whether the Population, Hypertension, Age, Size, Earlier Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Site (PHASES) score can do risk stratification of patients with multiple aneurysms (MIAs).

Patients between January 1, 2016 and January 1, 2019 were recruited retrospectively. The PHASES score was applied to assess the theoretical risk of IA rupture. For patients-level analyses, four modes of the application of the score were used: largest IA PHASES score, highest PHASES score, sum PHASES score, and mean PHASES score.

A total of 701 patients with 1673 IAs were included in this study. At aneurysm-level analysis, the average PHASES score was 3.0 ± 3.0 points, with 2.8 ± 3.0 points and 4.1 ± 2.9 points in the unruptured and ruptured groups, respectively (p < 0.001). At the patient-level analysis, for the largest IA PHASES score, the areas under the curves (AUC) was 0.572. The discrimination performance of the largest IA PHASES score decreases as IA number increases, with AUCs were 0.597, 0.518, and 0.450 in the 2 IAs, 3 IAs and, 4 or more IAs subgroups, respectively. For highest PHASES score, sum PHASES score, and mean PHASES score, the AUCs were 0.577, 0.599, and 0.619, respectively.

In this study, PHASES score only serve as a weak tool in decision-making settings for MIAs patients; as such, more accurate models should be developed for MIAs patients and the cumulative effect of MIA may should be considered.