A Retrospective Study of Survivors of Endovascular Coiling for Posterior and Anterior Aneurysms: Medical and Patient Perspectives

This article documents the longer-term medical and psychosocial outcomes of patients referred for endovascular coiling.There is limited research investigating outcome following endovascular coiling for posterior compared to anterior circulation aneurysms, and minimal understanding of how medical outcomes relate to patient experiences of treatment and quality of life.We studied a consecutive cohort of 80 patients referred Australia wide for endovascular coiling between 1995 and 2003 (49% posterior; 76% ruptured; 69% women, mean age 51.5 years). We used a mixed methods approach, assessing medical outcome with the Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) in 61 patients (76%), and health-related quality of life and psychosocial functioning using the EuroQol questionnaire and a qualitative semistructured interview in 49 patients (61%).Despite the high proportion of posterior aneurysms, the majority of patients (80%) showed good medical outcomes as indicated by regained independence of activities of daily living (MRS score ≤3). Patients with unruptured aneurysms were significantly more likely to show good outcomes (P