A 50-year-old lady, who had a history of hypertension, presented with severe headache and ataxia. CT scan done at admission showed acute right cerebellar hematoma []. DSA done subsequently revealed fusiform aneurysm of the cisternal segment of the SCA []. Endovascular treatment was done under general anesthesia with inside out coiling of the aneurysm with platinum coils []. Standard heparin protocol was followed and an activated clotting time greater than 250 s was maintained during the procedure. 5F Envoy (cordis) guiding catheter was placed in the distal vertebral artery. A combination of echelon-10 micro-catheter (ev3) and transcend 0.014 micro-wire (Stryker) were used to access the aneurysms and multiple axiom (ev3) coils were used to occlude the aneurysm. Post-coiling angiogram showed complete exclusion of the aneurysm from the circulation. The post-operative period was uneventful. The patient's neurological examination done after 1 month was completely normal. Control angiogram done at the end of 1 year showed stable occlusion with no re-canalization of the aneurysm [].
A 70-year-old woman with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a history of smoking presented with a peripheral fusiform SCA aneurysm found incidentally during a routine MRI investigation due to “black out” symptoms. The aneurysm was located 2 cm from the SCA origin, and measured 7 mm in maximal diameter [Figure and ]. After a thorough discussion of treatment options, the patient elected to undergo a combined subtemporal, presigmoidal approach. On the lateral aspect of the brainstem, the aneurysm was exposed along with the parent artery and two major efferent branches. One of these branches, the largest one, was superiorly directed and a double, smaller branch, presented inferiorly around the aneurysm fundus. It was necessary during microsurgical dissection to detach the aneurysm dome from the tentorial undersurface as well as from the 4th cranial nerve. Multiple clips were used to reconstruct the aneurysm without intra-operative complication. Intra-operative angiogram confirmed reconstruction of the fusiform aneurysm with preservation of distal flow [Figure –]. The patient tolerated the procedure well and was extubated and returned to the intensive care unit in stable condition. She was discharged home on the fourth post-operative day without new deficit.