Single-Center Retrospective Series of Intracranial Aneurysms Treated with the Barricade Coil System: Immediate and Six-Month Results

Intracranial aneurysms (IAs) are most commonly found at the branch points of large arteries that form the circle of Willis. The prevalence of IAs in the adult population is 1–5%. IAs rupture is associated with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in 6–8 cases per 100 000 population, causing mortality in 40–50%. Aneurysm treatment is used to prevent rupture or rebleeding (for ruptured IAs). Randomised trials demonstrated the superiority of endovascular treatment (EVT) of ruptured aneurysms with coil systems over surgery. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Barricade coil system in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Detachable platinum coils, since their introduction 25 years ago, have become the first choice EVT method for ruptured and unruptured IAs and have shown acceptable mortality (~2%). The retrospective study of intracranial aneurysms treated with the Barricade coil system at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (Rīga, Latvia) conducted in a 20-month period included 95 patients and 97 IAs. Thirty-one (32.6%) males and 64 (67.4%) females with median age 56 ± 15 years underwent endovascular treatment. The minority, 22 (23.16%) patients, were asymptomatic, while 73 (76.84%) patients had neurological symptoms directly associated with aneurysm progression and SAH development. Preoperatively, 52 (53.6%) aneurysms were ruptured, causing SAH, and 24 (25.26%) patients with unruptured IAs had neurological symptoms. Sixty-four (66.0%) IAs were treated using coils without neurovascular stent implantation or balloon assistance, 22 (22.7%) — with coils and stent implantation, and 11(11.3%) aneurysms were embolised with balloon-assisted coiling. The immediate anatomical result of endovascular treatment of IAs and technical success of aneurysm coiling was evaluated using the simplified Raymond scale. In the majority of cases, complete occlusion of the aneurysm was achieved while residual neck of the aneurysm or aneurysm remnant was uncommon. Immediate clinical results were evaluated using the modified Rankin scale (mRs). The majority of patients had favourable immediate clinical outcome (mRs 0–2), but four (4.21%) patients died in 1–6 days after the procedure as a consequence of SAH. In 72 (75.79%), patients no new neurological pathological symptoms developed 2–3 days after endovascular procedure and they were discharged from the hospital. Intraprocedural complications occurred in 4 (4.21%) cases. Technical issues occurred in two (2.1%) patients. In 19 (20%) patients, neurological symptoms remained even after the procedure, six (6.32%) patients had clinical worsening, and we had one case of procedural related mortality. Six-month follow-up evaluation was performed for 58 (61.0%) patients (59 IAs). In the majority of cases, complete occlusion of the aneurysm and favourable clinical outcome (mRs 0–2) was observed. Our experience showed that the treatment of ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms with the Barricade coil system is feasible, effective, clinically safe and has a low risk of intraprocedural complications.