Validity of Surgical Treatment of Unruptured Aneurysms

The results of surgically treated cases of unruptured aneurysm, in which mean hemispheric cerebral blood flow (CBF) values were above the critical flow level, are reported. The operations were performed in the chronic stage of cerebral ischemia when the patient had a cerebral infarction as the basic pathology. Analysis of these patients suggest the option of operating on cases of unruptured aneurysms. Permanent neurological deficits (PND) were not observed when pre-operative CBF was maintained above the critical flow level. Most PND occurred after the surgical treatment of large or giant aneurysms. Low cerebral flow values alone did not cause PND, although they could be the basic causative factor of transient neurological deficits (TND).