Abstract
The relative contribution to cognitive outcome of haemorrhage and surgery following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage has been assessed using a battery of cognitive tests and magnetic resonance imaging one year after the procedure. To tease out the effect of surgery we have used 40 case-matched patients treated with endovascular coiling as controls.
Surgery resulted in greater areas of structural damage than endovascular coiling. Both the surgical and the coiled groups were cognitively impaired on a broad range of cognitive tasks. When comparing the coiled and clipped groups there is a trend towards a poorer cognitive outcome amongst the surgically treated patients. Cognitive outcome following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage is primarily dictated by the haemorrhage. This first comparison of the two techniques, however, suggests that endovascular coiling may be more advantageous than surgery in the treatment of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.
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