Bronchial Artery Aneurysm: Prevalence, Clinical Characteristics, and Long-Term Prognosis Following Bronchial Artery Embolization

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and long-term prognosis of bronchial artery aneurysm (BAA) following bronchial artery embolization (BAE).

Materials and methods: The medical records of consecutive patients who underwent bronchial artery angiography between August 2013 and December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who were diagnosed with BAA during this period were included in this study. The prevalence, patients' characteristics, symptoms, comorbidities, angiographic findings, and long-term prognosis following BAE were investigated.

Results: BAA was observed in 20 of 508 patients who underwent bronchial artery angiography (3.9%). The patients' median age was 69 (interquartile range [IQR], 63.5-76.7) years. The main causes of BAA were cryptogenic, bronchiectasis or cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary aspergillosis. The median diameter of ruptured BAAs was significantly smaller than that of unruptured BAAs (5.4 mm [IQR, 4.8-7.3 mm] vs 9.0 mm [IQR, 7.2-13.9 mm], P = .009). All the patients were successfully treated with BAE, without major adverse events. The median follow-up period after BAE was 970 (IQR, 561-1,796) days. The BAA-related survival rate was 100% at 2 and 3 years after BAE, and the overall survival rate after BAE was 89.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 89.0-89.3) at 2 years and 74.3% (95% CI 74.0-74.5) at 3 years. BAA-related adverse events and mortality did not occur during the follow-up period.

Conclusions: BAA was observed in 3.9 % (20/508) of the patients who underwent bronchial artery angiography. All the patients with BAA were successfully treated with BAE. BAA rupture and consequent mortality did not occur during the follow-up period.