Hemodynamic Effects of Stent Struts versus Straightening of Vessels in Stent-Assisted Coil Embolization for Sidewall Cerebral Aneurysms

Background Recent clinical studies have shown that recanalization rates are lower in stent-assisted coil embolization than in coiling alone in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Objective This study aimed to assess and compare the hemodynamic effect of stent struts and straightening of vessels by stent placement on reducing flow velocity in sidewall aneurysms, with the goal of reducing recanalization rates. Methods We evaluated 16 sidewall aneurysms treated with Enterprise stents. We performed computational fluid dynamics simulations using patient-specific geometries before and after treatment, with or without stent struts. Results Stent placement straightened vessels by a mean (±standard deviation) of 12.9°±13.1° 6 months after treatment. Placement of stent struts in the initial vessel geometries reduced flow velocity in aneurysms by 23.1%±6.3%. Straightening of vessels without stent struts reduced flow velocity by 9.6%±12.6%. Stent struts had significantly stronger effects on reducing flow velocity than straightening (P = 0.004, Wilcoxon test). Deviation of the effects was larger by straightening than by stent struts (P = 0.01, F-test). The combination of stent struts and straightening reduced flow velocity by 32.6%±12.2%. There was a trend that larger inflow angles produced a larger reduction in flow velocity by straightening of vessels (P = 0.16). Conclusion In sidewall aneurysms, stent struts have stronger effects (approximately 2 times) on reduction in flow velocity than straightening of vessels. Hemodynamic effects by straightening vary in each case and can be predicted by inflow angles of pre-operative vessel geometry. These results may be useful to design a treatment strategy for reducing recanalization rates.