OBJECTIVE. To review our hospital’s experience with the pipeline embolisation device to reconstruct wide-necked intracranial aneurysms.

DESIGN. Descriptive case series.

SETTING. A regional neurosurgical centre in Hong Kong.

PATIENTS. Patients presented with wide-necked intracranial internal carotid artery aneurysms who underwent pipeline embolisation device reconstruction between October 2008 and June 2009.

RESULTS. There were 13 wide-necked internal carotid artery aneurysms (in nine patients) treated by pipeline embolisation device reconstruction. Eleven aneurysms were de-novo; two were recurrent. The complete occlusion rate was 66% (8/13) at the first angiographic follow-up and 69% (9/13) at the second follow-up. One patient developed in-stent stenosis and in another there was distal migration of the stent. There was no added neurological deficit in any patient.

CONCLUSION. In our series, the clinical results from using the pipeline embolisation device for the treatment of non-ruptured internal carotid artery aneurysms appeared encouraging. However, larger studies with longer follow-up duration are warranted to assess the complications and durability of the device for reconstructing internal carotid artery aneurysms.

Key words: Blood vessel prosthesis implantation; Embolization, therapeutic; Intracranial aneurysm; Neurosurgical procedures; Reconstructive surgical procedures

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