Management of Small Incidental Intracranial Aneurysms

Jan-Karl Burkhardt; Arnau Benet; Michael T Lawton

doi:10.1016/j.nec.2017.02.006

Management of Small Incidental Intracranial Aneurysms

Neurosurg Clin N Am. 2017 Jul;28(3):389-396. doi: 10.1016/j.nec.2017.02.006.

Authors

Jan-Karl Burkhardt¹, Arnau Benet¹, Michael T Lawton²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
² Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: Michael.Lawton@ucsf.edu.

PMID: 28600013
DOI: 10.1016/j.nec.2017.02.006

Abstract

Advances in neuroimaging and its widespread use for screening have increased the diagnosis of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs), including small-sized UIAs. The clinical management of these small-sized UIAs requires a patient-specific judgment of the risk of aneurysm rupture, if not treated, versus the risk of complications from surgical or endovascular treatment. Experienced cerebrovascular teams recommend treating small UIAs in young patients or in patients with more than one aneurysm rupture risk factor who also have a reasonable life expectancy. However, individual overall assessment of risk is critical for patients with UIAs to decide the next steps of care.

Keywords: Endovascular coiling; Incidental aneurysm; Microsurgical clipping; Small-sized UIAs; Unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA).

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Age Factors
Humans
Incidental Findings
Intracranial Aneurysm / diagnostic imaging
Intracranial Aneurysm / surgery*
Neuroimaging
Patient Selection
Postoperative Complications / etiology
Risk Factors