Microsurgical management of a complicated aneurysmal endovascular embolisation with GDC coil: a case report

We present a case involving a microsurgical approach to solving the problem of a medial cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion occurring after GDC coiling of an internal cerebral artery (ICA) bifurcation aneurysm in a 40 year old woman. We describe the clinical course of the case and discuss technical possibilities and risks of clipping a coiled aneurysm. One key to success is awareness of changes in the aneurysm's properties after coiling. With loss of elasticity the aneurysm had the effect of a tumor fixed on the vessel. The apposition of the aneurysm to the wall of the vessel, as well as the aneurysm's rigidity and increase of intracranial pressure after subarachnoideal hemorrhage (SAH), may lead to occlusion of the vessel. In cases of an mandatory operation due to the occlusion of a main arterial stem after coiling, it is primarily crucial to perforate the aneurysm's fundus, remove the coils, and, finally, to clip the slack neck of the aneurysm. An attempt to precisely prepare and clip the aneurysmal neck without removing the coils could result in the rupture of the aneurysm's neck.