Clinical impact of Sim & Size(R) simulation software in the treatment of patients with cerebral aneurysms with flow-diverter Pipeline stents

Objectives This study evaluated the clinical impact of the Sim & Size (R) simulation software on the endovascular treatment with flow-diverter stents of patients with unruptured saccular intracranial aneurysms. Methods This monocentric retrospective study evaluated a cohort of patients treated with flow-divert stents between June 1, 2014, and December 31, 2019, for cerebral aneurysms. Patients belonged to two groups, patients treated with and without the Sim & Size (R) simulation software. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the clinical impact of simulation software. Results Out of the 73 interventions involving 68 patients analyzed by the study, 76.7% were simulated using the Sim & Size (R) simulation software, and 23.3% were not. Patients treated with the simulation software had shorter stent lengths (16.00 mm vs. 20.00 mm p-value = 0.001) and surgical time (100.00 min vs. 118.00 min p-value = 0.496). Also, fewer of them required more than one stent (3.6% vs. 17.6% p-value = 0.079). Three patients belonging to the non-stimulated group presented hemorrhagic complications. Conclusions Using the Sim & Size (R) simulation software for the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms with pipeline flow-diverter stents reduces the stent length.