Successful treatment of a ruptured dissecting basilar artery aneurysm

Dissecting basilar artery (BA) aneurysms in patients presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage are life threatening, especially in those who experience subsequent bleeding or progressive dissection, and immediate surgical or endovascular intervention may be necessary. The authors report on a 52-year-old woman whose dissecting BA aneurysm was treated successfully with proximal occlusion and flow reversal. Clipping of the proximal BA above the level of the anterior inferior cerebellar arteries facilitated retrograde flow from a radial artery graft placed between the left vertebral artery and the left posterior cerebral artery, thereby providing continuous perfusion of the BA and its branches. Postoperative angiograms obtained 1 year later revealed good retrograde flow through the BA and dilation of the radial arterial graft. There were no episodes of recurrent hemorrhage.