Operative managements of extracranial carotid artery aneurysms: a report of three cases and literature review

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to report the treatment approaches and postoperative outcomes of extracranial carotid artery aneurysms (ECAAs) and discuss the symptoms, related risk factors, etiology, diagnostic methods, treatments, and follow-up period complications. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe three patients with symptomatic extracranial carotid artery aneurysms; one of them was treated with end-to-end anastomosis of the extracranial internal carotid artery (EICA) after the resection of the aneurysm, while the other two patients were deployed with Willis covered stents in the extracranial internal carotid artery. All of the patients were in good condition when discharged home. After a mean follow-up period of 8 months, all the patients were alive and only one of them had the neurologic deficit. Additionally, we reviewed the relative literatures. CONCLUSION: Both of the surgical and endovascular treatments have relatively satisfactory outcomes in ECAA patients. However, it is necessary to provide individualized treatments to different patients according to the characteristics of the aneurysms.