Invasive treatment for extracranial carotid artery aneurysm: a single-center case series and literature review

Extracranial carotid artery aneurysm (ECAA) is a rare peripheral arterial disease. The main treatment strategies include conservative treatment, open surgery, endovascular treatment, and hybrid techniques, and there is no expert consensus or guidelines, with only a few case reports.

This article reviewed 10 cases diagnosed with "extracranial carotid artery aneurysm" and received invasive treatment from January 2013 to July 2023 in our medical center.

There were 10 patients with ECAA admitted to our center, including seven cases of true aneurysms, two cases of pseudoaneurysms, and one case of dissecting aneurysm. There were 3 females and 7 males aged between 24–61 years. Based on the characteristics of ECAA, we designed the individualized procedure including open surgery, endovascular treatment, and hybrid treatment. Procedures were technically successful for all patients, and none of them had any adverse events during the follow-up period except for one patient who developed cerebral hemorrhage on the third postoperative day and recovered after cerebral puncture and drainage.

The current invasive treatments for ECAA mainly include open surgery, endovascular treatment, and hybrid treatment, and they all appear to be safe and effective.