[Clinical characteristics of contrast medium extravasation from intracranial aneurysms during cerebral angiography: studies on personal experience and review of the literature].

Angiography is essential to diagnosis and treatment for the patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysm in early stage, but on the other hand angiography always involves a risk that extravasation (EV) occurs from the aneurysm during angiography. Once EV occurs, the patient's outcome is poor and, in general, the patient tends to be regard as hopeless of recovery. Over the past 5 years, in 154 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysm angiography was performed, and in 7 of them EV occurred. We performed neck clipping for ruptured aneurysm in 3 of 7 patients and were able to save the life of 2 patients. We investigated factors to cause EV and to decide outcome in 7 cases and 75 cases of literature, totally 82 cases. Following results were obtained. Occurrence of EV seems to be related to the causal factors of the time interval (within 6 hours) from SAH to angiography and the severity of disturbance of consciousness prior to angiography. It is considered that the patient's outcome is related to age, pre-angiographic severity of disturbance of consciousness, and also time interval from SAH to angiography, but the extent of EV and the number of past history of SAH are not important as the factors related to the outcome. Consequently, the utmost care must be taken for cerebral angiography particularly in patients within 6 hours after the onset of SAH, and in patients with severe disturbance of consciousness. Even if EV should occur, there is a fair chance for life-saving by an emergency surgery in cases with mild disturbance of cerebral function before angiography.