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OBJECTIVE: To determine the angiographically proven rate and persistence of occlusion of intracranial aneurysms after surgical clipping as reported in the literature. This should establish a basis for comparing surgery with new endovascular methods of treatment. METHODS: We reviewed the literature published during the period from 1979 through 1999, dividing the articles into two groups. The first group of articles reported patients undergoing surgical treatment with immediate postoperative angiography. The second group of articles documented symptomatic recurrence or regrowth of aneurysms that were surgically treated previously. The data from these articles are presented for analysis. RESULTS: During the period 1979 to 1999, six series of patients undergoing surgical treatment of aneurysms with immediate postoperative angiography were reported. These reported series comprised a total of 1,397 patients, of whom 1,370 underwent postoperative angiography demonstrating 1,569 clipped aneurysms. Residual filling was found in 82 aneurysms (5.2%) on postoperative angiography. Of the 1,370 patients, only 124 patients with 169 aneurysms were reported to have had any long-term angiographic follow-up. The second group consisted of 226 patients representing six reported groups of patients, who either presented up to 24 years after aneurysm clipping with recurrent symptoms of hemorrhage or mass effect, or had important findings on intraoperative and postoperative angiograms. CONCLUSION: The lack of information regarding both the frequency of residual filling or regrowth and long-term angiographic follow-up of patients with surgically treated aneurysms makes meaningful comparison between surgical treatments and new treatment methods for intracranial aneurysms difficult or impossible. Detailed analysis with high-quality angiography should be performed to determine the success of surgical treatment.
Thornton et al. (Thu,) studied this question.