What is an Endovascular Procedure?

Individuals who report symptoms such as "the worst headache of my life" may be having a hemorrhagic stroke due to the rupture of an aneurysm. This is a serious condition requiring prompt medical attention. Historically patients diagnosed with a ruptured aneurysm have been treated with a surgical procedure known as a craniotomy. The procedure involves removing a portion of the skull and placing a clip at the base of the aneurysm so that it is eliminated from the cerebral circulation.

A newer treatment called endovascular embolization was introduced in the mid 1990s and has now been used successfully to treat thousands of patients worldwide. With this method the interventional neuroradiologists are able to treat aneurysms. Here coils are used to fill the aneurysm sac, thus eliminating it from the cerebral circulation in a less invasive manner. Although this procedure advanced the treatment of aneurysms it does have some limitations since it cannot effectively treat all types and sizes of aneurysms.

When a patient with an intracranial aneurysm needs treatment, the neurovascular team determines whether the aneurysm should be surgically clipped or an endovascular procedure preformed to "coil" the lesion. Micrus Endovascular manufactures a MicroCoil Delivery System.

Unique Features of Micrus MicroCoil Delivery System

The Micrus MicroCoil System is differentiated from other systems by a unique "frame and fill" technique and by a rapid detachment mechanism. The aneurysm is first framed by deploying a spherically shaped MicroCoil that assumes an anatomically compliant frame within the aneurysm's fragile perimeter. In aneurysms with greater than 4 mm diameters, a second spherical coil may be deployed to strengthen the frame. The frame is then rapidly filled with HeliPaq MicroCoils until the aneurysm is completely occluded from the cerebral circulation.

The Micrus MicroCoil Delivery System is currently being used at medical centers throughout the United States, South America, Europe, and Japan.

Typically patients remain in the hospital for only a day or two following the procedure. This compares very favorably to surgery where patients may remain in the hospital for a week or more.

This minimally invasive procedure requires only a quarter-inch incision to access the vessel leading to the aneurysm. The procedure is accomplished using a micro-catheter sheath and a novel, endovascular device, called the ACT MicroCoil Delivery System™. A Device Positioning Unit (DPU) with the implantable three-dimensional coil is placed inside a microcatheter and advanced up to the aneurysm. When the implant is in the proper position it is released into the aneurysm sac and the DPU is removed through the micro-catheter, which remains in place. Additional two-dimensional coils are then implanted using the same method, until the aneurysm is completely filled and excluded from the cerebral circulation.