Endovascular occlusion of intracranial aneurysms with electrically detachable coils: correlation of aneurysm neck size and treatment results.

PURPOSE To devise a method to measure aneurysm neck size on angiographic films, and to correlate the sizes obtained with the extent of endovascular aneurysm occlusion, performed with electrically detachable coils. METHODS The angiograms of 79 intracranial aneurysms treated by endovascular occlusion using electrically detachable coils were retrospectively analyzed. A method using the average reported caliber of the major intracranial vessels was applied to determine the aneurysm neck sizes on the diagnostic angiograms. The cases were divided into two groups according to neck size, 4 mm being the discriminative value for small and wide necks. The posttreatment angiogram of each case was analyzed to evaluate the degree of occlusion achieved by the technique. RESULTS Necks were successfully measured in 95% of the aneurysms. Complete aneurysm thrombosis was observed in 85% of the small-necked aneurysms and in 15% of the wide-necked aneurysms. CONCLUSIONS Accurate angiographic measurements of neck diameter can be obtained in most aneurysms. The size of an aneurysm neck correlates well with the results of the endovascular treatment. Small-necked aneurysms can be satisfactorily occluded with this technique. In wide-necked aneurysms this technique should be reserved for lesions having a high surgical risk.