Risk Factors for the Recurrence of Posterior Communicating Artery Aneurysm: The Significance of Fetal-Type Posterior Cerebral artery

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk factors associated with recurrence of posterior communicating artery aneurysms after treatment and to evaluate the significance of fetal-type posterior cerebral artery as an independent risk factor for recurrence of posterior communicating artery aneurysms. Materials and methods The clinical and radiological findings of 220 posterior communicating artery aneurysms treated between January 2009 and December 2016 in a single tertiary institute were retrospectively reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the association between clinical and radiological variables and recurrence. Results Of 220 posterior communicating artery aneurysms, 148 aneurysms were unruptured and 82 aneurysms were treated with surgery. Forty-six out of 220 aneurysms (20.9%) were associated with fetal-type posterior cerebral artery. Overall recurrence rate was 19% (42 out of 220 aneurysms) during mean 54.6 ± 29.8 months follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that size (OR=1.238; 95% CI, 1.087–1.409, p = 0.001), ruptured status (OR=2.699; 95% CI, 1.179–6.117, p = 0.019), endovascular treatment (OR=3.803; 95% CI, 1.330–10.875, p = 0.013), incomplete occlusion (OR=4.699; 95% CI, 1.999–11.048, p = <0.001) and fetal-type posterior cerebral artery (OR=3.533; 95% CI, 1.373–9.089, p = 0.009) were significantly associated with recurrence after treatment. Conclusions The results demonstrated that fetal-type posterior cerebral artery may be an independent risk factor for the recurrence of posterior communicating artery aneurysms. Therefore, fetal-type posterior cerebral artery can be considered as an important risk factor for the recurrence of posterior communicating artery aneurysms, along with other known risk factors such as size, ruptured status, endovascular treatment, and incomplete occlusion.