Natural History of Cavernous Carotid Artery Aneurysms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Cavernous carotid artery aneurysms (CCAAs) represent a common condition seen in clinical practice with significant practice variability. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to aggregate current evidence on the natural history of CCAAs.

MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were queried from inception until December 2023. The primary outcome of this study was CCAA-related mortality. The secondary outcomes of this study were aneurysm growth, intracranial ischemic and hemorrhagic events, improved non-cerebrovascular symptoms, and new or worsened non-cerebrovascular symptoms during follow-up.

Ten studies met our inclusion criteria, involving 835 patients and 975 CCAAs. CCAA-related mortality had an incidence rate of 0.28 (95% CI 0.12-0.64) per 100 person-years (PYs) of follow-up. The incidence rate of CCAA growth was 2.91 (1.05-8.07) per 100 PYs of follow-up. The incidence rate of CCAA-related intracranial ischemic events was 0.4 (0.16-1.01) per 100 PYs of follow-up. The incidence rate of CCAA-related intracranial hemorrhagic events was 0.54 (0.33-0.87) per 100 PYs of follow-up. The incidence rate of improved non-cerebrovascular symptoms was 2.51 (1.18-5.33) per 100 PYs of follow-up. The incidence rate of new or worsened non-cerebrovascular symptoms was 3.41 (2.03-5.73) per 100 PYs of follow-up.

CCAAs are typically benign lesions with a low risk of rupture and life-threatening complications. CCAAs tend to follow an indolent course regarding non-cerebrovascular outcomes, and new or worsening symptoms are infrequent during the clinical course. However, spontaneous resolution of non-cerebrovascular symptoms and cranial nerve deficits at presentation is uncommon.