Long-term Functional Outcomes for World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Grade V Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage after Active Treatment

This study investigated the long-term outcomes of patients with World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) grade V aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who underwent early aneurysm repair. We evaluated consecutive patients with WFNS grade V aneurysmal SAH from April 2010 to March 2015 who underwent aneurysm repair within 72 h after onset. We assessed the functional outcomes at discharge and 3 years after onset using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). The primary outcome was defined as a favorable functional outcome (mRS ≤2). We identified 145 patients with grade V SAH during the study period. Of these, 44 patients (19 males and 25 females; median age, 64 years; range, 24–79 years) met the inclusion criteria. For aneurysm repair, surgical clipping and coiling were performed in 40 (90.9%) and 4 (9.1%) patients, respectively. Although no patient had a favorable functional outcome at discharge, 11 (25.0%) patients had a favorable functional outcome at the end of follow-up. The number of patients with a favorable outcome significantly increased during the first year (P = 0.012) and during the follow-up period (P <0.001). Patients who underwent active rehabilitation had significant improvement. Our study showed that one-fourth of the patients who underwent early aneurysm repair with WFNS grade V SAH achieved a mRS score of ≤2 over a 3-year period. It might be important to consider age and rehabilitation for better clinical outcomes. Larger studies are required to adequately assess the long-term functional outcomes and other multi-faceted prognoses.