Background: Intracranial vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA) is rare and shows high morbidity and mortality rates when the aneurysm ruptures. Endovascular treatment for VADA is one of the optimal treatments, but the dominant side VA and its branches or perforators need to be preserved. We report a novel and successful stent-assisted coil embolization technique using the low-profile visualized intraluminal support (LVIS) stent, with five technical notes in three consecutive cases of unruptured vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA).
Case description: We report three consecutive cases of unruptured VADA which involved a posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA), an anterior spinal artery, and perforators. Stent-assisted coil embolization with the LVIS stent was performed in all patients. The stent was carefully placed to obtain parent artery wall apposition at distal portion and with moderate pushing at aneurysm portion. The LVIS stent was placed with tailor-made wall apposition at perforating arterial side in the barrel view, and coil embolization was performed avoiding doughnut-like stent form to prevent perforator infarcts. All cases showed complete occlusion of the aneurysms with preservation of both parent artery and its branches and perforators patency. In three cases, clinical presentations were improved without ischemic complications. The median follow-up period was 1 year. At present, no recurrence and no complication have been observed.
Conclusion: We demonstrate the coil embolization of VADA using LVIS stent with five techniques. Our techniques for the treatment of VADA using LVIS stent are safe and can minimize ischemic complications by creating suitable wall apposition to the orifices of branches or perforators.
Keywords: Intracranial vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm; Ischemic complications; Low-profile visualized intraluminal support stent; Stent-assisted coil embolization.