Data from the International Study of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms (ISUIA), published in the latest edition of The Lancet, has shown that a new platinum-based surgical technique is the best treatment possible.

The ISUIA data, which has been collated over the course of 12 years and which has extensively covered every aspect of aneurysm treatment, suggests that there are a number of identifiable benefits of using the new minimally invasive endovascular procedure for treating aneurysms.

Endovascular treatment, a procedure that seeks to minimise the extent of surgery directly to the skull, is most commonly performed by interventional neuroradiologists, and involves filling the aneurysm with detachable platinum coils.

The study concluded that outcomes of endovascular treatment appeared to be less affected by factors such as patient age, previous brain haemorrhage and aneurysmal symptoms other than rupture, suggesting additional advantages for patients with these characteristics when compared to open brain surgery.

Disability and death rates following endovascular treatment were four per cent lower than those for surgery at one month and three per cent at one year.

Indeed, the comprehensive study indicated that the benefits achieved via endovascular treatment might be even greater than the numbers imply since the endovascular patient group was comprised of older patients.

'Endovascular treatment such as 'coiling' resulted in less death and disability, despite the fact that the endovascular patient group was older and had more extenuating risk factors,' explained Charles Strother, president of the American Society of Neuroradiology.

'Further, since endovascular treatment is minimally invasive, patients typically experience less overall risk, less pain and shorter recovery times,' he added.

The treatment, which has been slowly spreading across the world, has become increasingly popular among neurosurgeons.