Flow Diverter Treatment of Ruptured Basilar Artery Perforator Aneurysms : A Multicenter Experience

Ruptured basilar artery perforator aneurysms (BAPAs) represent a very rare cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage and an under-reported subtype of cerebral aneurysm. There is no consensus for the optimal treatment strategy (conservative vs. surgical vs. various endovascular approaches). We aim to present a multicenter experience of BAPA treatment using flow-diverter (FD) stents.

At five tertiary neurovascular centers, all cases of ruptured BAPAs treated by FD were retrospectively collected. Baseline imaging and clinical characteristics, complications, as well as early and long-term angiographic and clinical outcome (mRS) were analyzed.

Eighteen patients (mean age, 57 years; SD, ±10.7 years) with acute SAH related to a BAPA were treated using 18 FD stents. Aneurysms were detected on initial imaging study in 28%; delayed diagnosis was triggered by clinical deterioration due to rebleeding in 15%. No rebleeding after FD was seen, 28% developed FD-related ischemic complications. At long term (n = 16), overall mortality was 13% (2/16), and favorable outcome (mRS 0-2) was 81% (13/16). All BAPAs (n = 13) were completely occluded at long-term angiographic follow-up.

In our multicenter experience, FD treatment of ruptured BAPAs appears to have comparable safety and efficacy outcomes to FD treatment of other ruptured posterior circulation aneurysms as well as to the conservative management of BAPAs. This treatment strategy for a ruptured BAPA achieved a high rate of angiographic occlusion and favorable clinical outcome; however, as the conservative management also seems to offer similar clinical outcomes an individualized treatment decision is warranted. Future prospective studies comparing both approaches are required.