Comparative Effectiveness of Therapies in 2665 Elderly Patients with Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms

Background: The optimal treatment strategy for elderly patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms (IAs) remains controversial. We evaluated a national, multihospital database to compare the outcomes of aggressive treatment and medical management for those patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 2665 elderly patients with ruptured IAs admitted to 11 hospitals in China. Patients were divided into three age groups (60-69, 70-79, and 80 years or older). Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio for favorable and unfavorable outcomes. Results: Patients between 60 and 69 years old undergoing endovascular treatment (EVT) had significantly decreased morbidity (13.7% versus 19.7% and 29.9%), compared to those who underwent clipping and medical management, similar mortality to patients who underwent clipping (3.6% versus 2.6%), and decreased mortality (3.6% versus 8.7%) to patients who underwent medical management. Coiled patients 70 to 79 years old had lower morbidity (21.3% versus 33.8%) and mortality (2.8% versus 11.3%) compared to patients who underwent medical management and similar mortality (21.3% versus 27.2%) and mortality (2.8% versus 4.8%) to patients who underwent clipping. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that factors associated with discharge status were age, poor mFisher grade, poor WFNS grade, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, aneurysms 4 mm or larger, and middle cerebral artery aneurysms. Conclusions: Elderly patients treated with EVT had significantly less morbidity and mortality than those treated with clipping and medical management. A comprehensive assessment of the general state of elderly patients and IAs characteristic may help us to predict patients' prognosis.