Combined endoscope-assisted transclival clipping and endovascular stenting of a basilar trunk aneurysm: case report.

Abstract

We describe a patient with a mid-basilar aneurysm treated with combined endoscope-assisted transsphenoidal clipping and endovascular stenting. A 28-year-old woman was transferred to the cranial base surgery center with an acute Grade III subarachnoid hemorrhage. Cerebral angiography demonstrated a small basilar trunk aneurysm that was not amenable to acute endovascular treatment. The patient underwent sublabial transsphenoidal/transclival endoscope-assisted clipping of the aneurysm and subsequent stenting of the affected segment. The aneurysm was repaired with a low-profile Weck clip (Weck Closure Systems Research, Triangle Park, NC) that permitted a watertight closure of the clival dura using cardiac Medtronic U-clips (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN). Postoperatively, the patient had no evidence of cerebrospinal fluid leakage. Watertight dural closure was possible due to the use of a low-profile aneurysm clip that did not protrude through the dural defect, as well as self-tying sutures.