Endovascular treatment of extracranial carotid artery aneurysms with flow diverter stents

Extracranial carotid artery aneurysms (ECAAs) are not a common occurrence. As a result, its natural clinical course and the risk factors associated with an adverse outcome are largely unknown. Herein, we describe the endovascular treatment of two extracranial carotid artery aneurysms with flow diverter stents. Flow-diverter devices are stents placed in the parent artery at the level of the neck aneurysm in order to disrupt the intra-aneurysmal flow, thereby favoring intra-aneurysmal thrombosis. In the first case, an angio-CT scan was performed at one-month follow-up and in the second case a duplex scan was performed after four months. Both cases resulted in good stent positioning with complete exclusion of the aneurysm and complete carotid artery patency. Based upon our own clinical experience, endovascular treatment with flow diverter stents merit to be recognized and considered an option in cases of ECAA acknowledging that larger studies or larger series are needed to concur experience.