Revisit of aneurysm clip closing forces: comparison of titanium versus cobalt alloy clip

Enhance Safety in Aneurysm Surgery: Strategies for Prevention of Intraoperative Vascular Complications

Complications during surgery for intracranial aneurysms can be devastating. Notorious pitfalls include premature rupture, parent vessel occlusion, local cerebral injury and brain contusion, and incomplete neck obliteration. These unfavorable intraoperative events can result in major neurological deficits with permanent morbidity and even mortality. Herein, the author highlights the relevant surgical strategies used in his daily practice of aneurysm surgery (e.g., aneurysm clipping with adenosine-induced temporary cardiac arrest), application of which may help prevent vascular complications and enhance surgical safety through reduction of the associated risks, thus allowing improvement of postoperative outcomes. Overall, all described methods and techniques should be considered as small pieces in the complex puzzle of prevention of vascular complications during aneurysm surgery.

Insufficient Closing Forces of Yasargil Titanium Clips in Two Small Aneurysms Detected with Intraoperative Indocyanine Green Videoangiography

Background and Study Aims Aneurysm clips must have adequate closing forces because residual blood flow in clipped aneurysms may result in aneurysm recurrence. Such flow can be intraoperatively detected by visual inspection, microvascular Doppler sonography, indocyanine green videoangiography (ICG-V), angiography, and puncture.

Patients We present two patients with ruptured very small middle cerebral artery aneurysms (3 and 2.9 mm). The necks of both aneurysms were microsurgically clipped with Yasargil aneurysm clips without any complications.

Results In both aneurysms, visual inspection suggested complete occlusion, but ICG-V showed persistent residual blood flow between the middle parts of the clip blades.

The first patient was treated with a 5.4-mm FT744T clip (closing force of 1.47 N). After the ICG-V finding, a second 3.9-mm FT714T clip (closing force of 1.08 N) was placed on the tips of the already implanted clip to increase the closing forces. Subsequent ICG-V did not show any further residual blood flow. In the second patient, the aneurysm was clipped with an 8.0-mm FE764K clip (closing force of 1.77 N). Intraoperative ICG-V showed persistent residual blood flow within the aneurysmal dome despite complete closure of the clip. The clip was repositioned closer to the parent vessel. Consecutive ICG-V did not show any residual blood flow.

Conclusion Visually undetected incomplete aneurysm occlusion can be revealed with ICG-V. In very small aneurysms, standard closing forces of clips may not be sufficient and complete closure of the clip branches should be intraoperatively validated with ICG-V.

Piggyback Stacking and Booster Clipping Technique: A Technical Note

In certain cases, the closing force of a single vascular clip is not sufficient for complete aneurysmal occlusion, and the use of multiple clips, or clip stacking, is required. Many stacking techniques have been described in the literature, such as in tandem stacking and overstacking. However, these may not be feasible during procedures with limited exposure or narrow corridors. Clip reinforcement with a second high-pressure booster clip, also known as the piggyback technique, is an alternative for these cases along with anatomically complex aneurysms or aneurysms demonstrating atypical morphological features. Although this technique has been cited as a potential resource for certain aneurysms, descriptions of its characteristics and advantages are scarce. The purpose of this technical note was to discuss our experience with the piggyback clipping technique and use of a booster clip for a partially embolized and recanalized saccular posterior communicating artery aneurysm in a 50 year-old patient.

Incidence of Postoperative Cerebral Aneurysm Clip Slippage: Review of a Consecutive Case Series of 115 Clipped Aneurysms

OBJECTIVE

Although delayed postoperative clip slippage has been reported in previous case reports and case series, its true incidence with high rate of follow-up imaging has not been reported. We attempted to determine the incidence of clip slippage in a cohort of consecutive aneurysm clippings.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of 115 consecutive saccular aneurysm clippings at a single institution. Postoperative imaging was reviewed for clip slippage within 24 hours and at 3-12 months. Eighty-six aneurysms (75.8%) were exclusively clipped with Sugitaclip (Mizuho Medical, Tokyo, Japan) Titanium II clips, 16 aneurysms were exclusively clipped with Yaşargil (Aesculap, Center Valley, PA) titanium clips (13.9%), 5 aneurysms were only clipped with Sugita aneurysm clips (4.3%), and 3 aneurysms were only clipped with Peter Lazic (Peter Lazic Microsurgical Innovations, Tuttlingen, Germany) clips (2.6%).

RESULTS

In this cohort, 94.7% of clipped aneurysms had follow-up imaging within 24 hours, and 51.3% had delayed follow-up imaging within 3-12 months. We identified 3 cases of clip slippage in 115 consecutive aneurysm clippings, resulting in an incidence of 2.6%. The average cumulative closing force of clips per aneurysm across the study was 2.32 N, and the median number of clips placed was 1. Two of the 3 cases of clip slippage had a closing force <2.32 N and only placement of a single clip.

CONCLUSIONS

Because our series showed a 2.6% incidence of clip slippage, clipped aneurysms should be monitored with early and delayed vascular follow-up imaging. Lower cumulative clip closing force, single clip placement, and oversized clip blade length may be risk factors for postoperative aneurysmal clip slippage.

Place-and-Clip Method for Fixing the Suture Thread in Deep-Brain Vascular Lesions: A Technical Case Report

BACKGROUND

Intracranial vascular injury incurred during surgery must be repaired as quickly as possible. The standard repair procedure is surgical suturing. However, the narrow and deep working space may obstruct creating a knot with the suture thread.

CASE DESCRIPTION

Resection of an olfactory groove meningioma was performed in a 73-year-old woman via the right lateral supraorbital approach. Tumor retraction caused an injury to the pericallosal artery. After temporary clipping of the vessel, a 10-0 nylon thread was placed on the vascular lesion and the end of the thread was fixed with an aneurysm clip.

CONCLUSIONS

Fixing the suture thread with an aneurysm clip can be a rescue technique in suturing procedures on deeply located vascular lesions.

"Mass Reduction" Clipping Technique for Large and Complex Intracranial Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysm

BACKGROUND

Treatment of complex unruptured middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms that are untreatable with conventional surgical techniques are rare, and direct aneurysmal clipping usually remains the first-line treatment for large and giant saccular MCA aneurysms. Tandem clipping and multiple clipping techniques represent neck reconstruction in direct clipping surgeries that address these aneurysms.

CASE DESCRIPTION

The authors describe a simple variation of neck reconstructive clipping techniques for the large MCA unruptured aneurysm in a patient with an unruptured 20-mm MCA bifurcation aneurysm. The key of this technique is the application of an appropriate initial clip, the "mass reduction clip"; this clip is inserted not into the aneurysmal neck but on the center of the aneurysmal dome so as to compress the dome at first, which yields a change in the aneurysm's shape and reduces the size of the whole aneurysmal mass. This technique facilitates the ensuing neck reconstruction according to the concept of the ideal closure line using few clips.

CONCLUSIONS

"Mass reduction" clipping, which changes the shape of the aneurysm and reduces the size of the whole aneurysmal mass, is a useful variation for the treatment of large aneurysms when conventional clipping across the neck is feasible.

Mechanical evaluation of cerebral aneurysm clip scissoring phenomenon: comparison of titanium alloy and cobalt alloy

Cerebral aneurysm clip blades crossing during surgery is well known as scissoring. Scissoring might cause rupture of the aneurysm due to laceration of its neck. Although aneurysm clip scissoring is well known, there have been few reports describing the details of this phenomenon. Quasi-scissoring phenomenon was introduced mechanically by rotating the clip head attached to a silicone sheet. The anti-scissoring torque during the twist of the blades was measured by changing the depth and the opening width. The closing force was also evaluated. Sugita straight clips of titanium alloy and cobalt alloy were used in the present study. In both materials, the anti-scissoring torque and the closing force were bigger 3 mm in thickness than 1 mm. The initial closing forces and the anti-scissoring torque values at each rotation angles were increased in proportion to depth. Closing forces of titanium alloy clip were slightly higher than those of cobalt alloy clip. By contrast, anti-scissoring torque values of cobalt alloy clip were bigger than those of titanium alloy clip in all conditions. In condition of 3 mm in thickness and 3 mm in depth, anti-scissoring torque vales of titanium alloy clip decreased suddenly when an angle surpassed 70 degrees. Aneurysm clip scissoring phenomenon tends to occur when clipping the aneurysm neck only with blade tips. Based on the results of this experiment, titanium alloy clip is more prone to scissoring than cobalt alloy clip under the condition that the wide blade separation distance and the shallow blade length.

Mechanical evaluation of long titanium alloy clip--comparison of cobalt alloy clip

Long titanium aneurysm clips have recently been released. In the present study, comparative study of long titanium and cobalt alloy clips was performed. Two kinds of Sugita long clips (straight clips of 25- and 35-mm blade length) made of titanium and cobalt alloys were tested by measuring the closing force, the anti-scissoring torque, and the maximum opening width. There were some differences between the two materials. In the 25-mm blade length clip, closing force and maximum opening width of titanium alloy clip were greater than those of cobalt alloy clip. By contrast, the anti-scissoring torque of 35-mm blade length titanium clip was stronger than that of the cobalt. The long titanium clips would have equivalent endurance to long cobalt clip and are safe for clinical use.