Treatment of acute aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage with primary flow diversion: 5-year single-centre experience

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of treatment of patients presenting with acute aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) with primary flow-diverting stents (FDS; with or without adjuncts), with comparison to the published literature.

A retrospective single-centre review was undertaken of prospectively obtained data on patients treated for SAH over a 60-month period. Of 354 patients treated for SAH during that time period, 24 patients with a total of 25 aneurysms were identified. Baseline patient demographics were recorded and clinical and imaging outcomes assessed.

Eighty-eight per cent (22/25) of the aneurysms were completely occluded (Raymond-Roy 1) at mean 12-month follow-up. The minor complication rate was 12.5% (3/24) without permanent morbidity. Mortality rate was 4% (1/25) after one patient died following aneurysmal rebleed on day 7 post-procedure. Forty-two per cent (10/24) of patients had a high-pressure shunt placed prior to endovascular treatment, no haemorrhagic complications of neurosurgical intervention were observed.

The necessity of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) therapy when deploying FDS will rightly continue to limit their use in the acutely ruptured setting to a case-by-case basis whereby other treatment options are deemed unsafe. Methods employed to minimise subsequent haemorrhagic risks from DAPT in these patients may be worthy of further investigation.