Extracranial aneurysms of the distal posterior inferior cerebellar artery: Resection and primary reanastomosis as the preferred management approach

BACKGROUND: Extracranial aneurysms of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) are rare, with only 22 reported cases in the English literature. For saccular extracranial distal PICA aneurysms not amenable to coiling, a surgically placed clip is not protected by the cranium postoperatively, and can be subject to movement in the mobile cervical region. Furthermore, fusiform or complex aneurysms cannot be clipped primarily. Resection and primary reanastomosis is a useful surgical approach not previously described for these extracranial lesions. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report three cases of extracranially located distal PICA aneurysms successfully treated with this surgical strategy at our center. One patient harboring a broad necked saccular aneurysm originally underwent successful primary clipping of the aneurysm but sustained a second subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) on postoperative day 25 due to clip dislodgement from vigorous neck movement. The other two patients were found to have fusiform and complex aneurysms, respectively. All three patients were ultimately treated with resection and end-to-end PICA anastomosis, which successfully obliterated their aneurysms. CONCLUSIONS: Resection and primary reanastomosis of extracranial distal PICA aneurysms averts the risk of clip dislodgement due to neck movement and/or compression by soft tissues in the upper cervical region. It is a safe and efficacious technique, which we propose as the preferred management strategy for these rare vascular lesions.