The application of skull digital radiography during the follow-up after endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms

Abstract

Objective To investigate the application of skull digital radiography (DR) during the follow-up after endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms.  Methods Forty-three patients with intracranial aneurysms underwent endovascular coil embolization or stent angioplasty assisted by coil embolization. Three months later, they underwent skull DR and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) to observe the location and morphology of coils and whether there was recurrence of aneurysms. Results Among 43 patients, there were 14 cases of anterior communicating artery aneurysms, 17 cases of posterior communicating artery aneurysms, 5 cases of middle cerebral artery aneurysms, 5 cases of basilar artery aneurysms and 2 cases of posterior inferior cerebellar artery aneurysms. The coincidence of skull DR and DSA in detecting the form of coils was about 97.67% (42/43). DSA found 2 cases had recurrence, while skull DR found only one case with recurrence. There was no statistical difference between the two methods (χ² = 0.345, P = 0.955).  Conclusions Skull digital radiography is a safe and effective method with high accuracy in the follow-up examination after endovascular treatment of aneurysms.

DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2015.02.010