Objective: While cavernous carotid aneurysms can cause neurological symptoms, their often-uneventful natural course and the increasing options of intravascular aneurysm closure call for educated decision-making. However, evidence-based guidelines are missing. Here, we report 64 patients with cavernous carotid aneurysms, their respective therapeutic strategies, and follow-up.
Methods: We included all patients with cavernous carotid aneurysms who presented to our clinic between 2014 and 2020 and recorded comorbidities (elevated blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and nicotine consumption), PHASES score, aneurysm site, size and shape, therapeutic strategy, neurological deficits, and clinical follow-up.
Results: The mean age of the 64 patients (86% female) was 53 years, the mean follow-up time was 3.8 years. A total of 22 patients suffered from cranial nerve deficit. Of these patients, 50% showed a relief of symptoms regardless of the therapy regime. We found no significant correlations between aneurysm size or PHASES score and the occurrence of neurological symptoms.
Conclusion: If aneurysm specific symptoms persist over a longer period of time, relief is difficult to achieve despite aneurysm treatment. Patients should be advised by experts in neurovascular centers, weighing the possibility of an uneventful course against the risks of treatment. In this regard, more detailed prospective data is needed to improve individual patient counseling.
Keywords: cavernous carotid aneurysm; cranial nerve deficits; flow diversion.