Intraprocedural rupture (IPR) during stent-assisted coiling (SAC) after stent deployment can create a narrow and rapidly changing management problem: hemorrhage control, anticoagulation reversal, acute thrombotic occlusion, and postprocedural cerebrospinal fluid diversion may all become urgent within the same clinical sequence. We report a fatal IPR during SAC of an unruptured anterior communicating artery (AComA) aneurysm and use the case as an anchor for a targeted case-based narrative review. A 71-year-old woman underwent SAC for a 5.1-mm posteriorly directed AComA aneurysm with a bleb after treatment for vertebrobasilar ischemia. Fourth-coil insertion produced tactile resistance and contrast extravasation. Protamine reversal and temporary A1 flow control reduced the leak, but filling defects then developed from the internal carotid artery terminus to the A1 and M1 segments, requiring rescue thrombectomy. Computed tomography showed subarachnoid hemorrhage and intraventricular hemorrhage; same-day progression with hydrocephalus required bilateral external ventricular drainage. The patient died on postoperative day 7. This case highlights IPR during SAC as a time-dependent hemorrhagic–thrombotic escalation rather than a single technical event. We propose a staged assistant–operator communication model for risk mapping, rupture recognition, hemostatic-route preservation, thrombotic surveillance, and transition to computed tomography, external ventricular drainage, and intensive care.
Goto et al. (2026) studied this question.