A study evaluating the risks of re-treating brain aneurysms after endovascular coil embolization bore some good news for Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson’s Cordis Corp. subsidiary.
The study‘s authors — two of whom received grants or honoraria from the two device makers — examined the results in 311 cases in which patients were treated again after having coils implanted in their brains via catheter. The study indicated that the risk of death or permanent major disability was 1.28 percent, or just more than one in 100.
The study was published in Neurosurgery magazine.
Traditional procedures for treating aneurysms, which are bulges or weaknesses in artery walls, involve clipping the base of the bulge to prevent it from bursting. It’s an invasive procedure that usually involves opening the patient’s skull or brow.
The coiling procedure involves threading a catheter through the femoral artery in the groin into the damaged brain artery and implanting a tiny platinum coil in the aneurysm. The coils are designed to impede the flow of blood into the weakened area, creating a clot and preventing it from bursting.
Of the 311 patients in the study who underwent one or more coiling re-treatments, three died and one developed a major and permanent neurological disability. One patient suffered a significant but transient neurological symptom and four suffered permanent minor symptoms.
The results reinforce a previous, BSC-sponsored study indicating patients treated for ruptured intracranial aneurysms are 23 percent less likely to die within five years after coil implantation, compared with patients treated by surgical clipping of the aneurysm.