Background: Standard endovascular therapy has shown little success in treatment of very large and giant ophthalmic segment aneurysms. We hypothesize that surgical treatment of these aneurysms yields better results in terms of visual function and aneurysm obliteration.
Methods: The Toronto Brain Vascular Malformation Study Group database was analyzed to retrieve patients treated surgically for very large (>15 mm) and giant aneurysms of the ophthalmic segment of the carotid artery. Preoperative data and postoperative long-term outcomes with specific consideration for visual function and aneurysm obliteration were evaluated.
Results: Of the 257 patients with ophthalmic and paraophthalmic aneurysms, 38 patients had very large or giant aneurysms. Twenty-one underwent surgical treatment; 19 had direct clipping; 1 had trapping, and 1 underwent trapping and bypass. Fifteen patients had unruptured and six had ruptured aneurysms. The mean follow-up period was 88 months. Six (28%) aneurysms had a small residual neck remnant. Of the 12 patients with documented preoperative visual deficit, 9 (75%) improved, 2 (16%) remained stable, and 1 (8%) worsened. Two patients had mild to moderate new visual deficit. Thus, the surgery-related visual complications were 14%. Eighteen patients (86%) had a good or excellent outcome (GOS IV and V). Presentation with prior visual deficit and poor neurological function were predictors of worse visual and clinical outcome, respectively (P = 0.02 and 0.01).
Conclusions: There is considerable surgery-related risk for optic pathways during treatment of very large and giant ophthalmic segment aneurysms. Surgery, however, seems to be the treatment of choice in terms of overall visual outcome and aneurysm obliteration as compared to the current endovascular results in this subset of patients.